


They Can't Stop Us

by Soffie101



Category: The Maze Runner (Movies), The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types, The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Spoilers, WICKED | WCKD Is Good, What it would be like if you were in the movies, how do tags even work?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-05
Updated: 2018-03-12
Packaged: 2018-04-24 23:34:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 26,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4938220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soffie101/pseuds/Soffie101
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The one thing you always wanted was to do something WICKED wasn't responsible for. You thought escaping from the maze was enough. When you found out you were wrong, your want to be independent from WICKED grew. Day by day, you would wonder if you'd ever be free; you'd scheme for a solution.<br/>Would WICKED plan for you to fall in love with another, "test subject?" Would WICKED truly wish two of their draining candidates would grow so attached to each other that they would sacrifice everything for each other? You'd have to find out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Drowning.  
  
That’s the first thing you remember. The excruciating pain your lungs went through being deprived of air and instead being filled with water, your eyes feeling like they may burst any second as you stare at those who condemned you to this fate and your hands pounding at your glass prison as hard as they could. Everything before that is a blur.  
  
You remember your parents who watched over you during your childhood, helping you every step of the way, but their names and their faces are gone and nothing of them remains. You remember your room when you were a child, making it your safe haven where you could run away from the world, but the contents inside and their placements are a mystery. You remember the distant sounds of screaming during the night as you muffle your ears with blankets and pillows, but what they were screaming about was unknown to you.  
  
Everything was just a skeleton of memories without any skin on them to prove they were ever real; no proof, nor any solid memories that concluded you about your life prior to the maze. Everything was blank, like a white canvas with only sketched pencil marks which stood in as words or titles for objects; the basics. All that was left was feelings; the feelings you had when the past events happened, but if you really concentrated on them, they would start to disappear.  
  
Even your name had shrivelled into nothing for your first few days "alive," if that's what you'd call it.  
  
You play with your (Hair length) hair, loosely pulling at the ends and then releasing, feeling the (Hair colour) locks fall back into place from gravity. Now, your name rings clear. (Your name). It's clear as a bell, to the point where you wonder how you could have forgotten it in the first place. If you remembered your parents, you assumed it would be the same as your name; so clear, you'd wonder just how you could have amnesia over something so important.  
  
You look around the room of metal bunk beds and a small sink in the back, a joint bathroom in the other room. You might have been saved from WICKED, but the room your saviour's organization offered you was not a, "comfy, quaint new home," you had always wished for since the maze.  
  
As you lie down on one of the empty beds, you reflect on your past events. Waking up in a small box filled with crates, being hoisted up for a half an hour by an elevator-like mechanism, and being greeted by numerous girls who just stood there staring at you. Realizing all your memories were gone and that you were trapped in a large square of land surrounded by what seemed like a manually controlled maze, being forced to live alongside new friends facing the same consequences, hoping for someone to rescue you or for people to find an exit in the maze.   
  
It wasn't easy; although your memories were gone, you remembered standard ways of living. The way you lived in the maze, what your companions called the Field, was no child's play. Instead, it was like living in a less developed farm that was surrounded by a maze which was filled with mechanical monsters that they called Frights. You were no princess, but it was an understatement to just say you had to work a little harder to maintain everyone's standards.  
  
There were roughly seventy people there, and that meant seventy people to feed, clothe, give shelter to, and in general just attend to. At first, you were enlisted to help feed the whole crowd with a couple of others because you couldn't concentrate on raking up animal waste and couldn't stomach blood produced by either animal or injured human, but eventually you proved yourself to being a fast runner and became, as they called it, a Scout.  
  
But even being a Scout, you were not involved in any great escape until it was being executed. You hadn't found the exit much to your dismay, and in fact, you found nothing that others had not already found. You were observant enough, but just being observant didn't compare to those who were also observant and those that had been in the Field for longer than you had.  
     
You lived in agony for more than one year, but that was merciful; your friend Harriet had been there for two years.  
  
But Harriet was no longer with you. Whether she was alive or dead was unknown to you. After you escaped from the maze, you were rescued by what seemed to be a facility only running because others like you, beaten and bruised with no previous memories, needed to be saved by WICKED. Not long after that, she was taken far away the facility; kidnapped in the middle of the night by a group known as the Right Arm, her along with all your other friends.  
  
You start picking at the couple of buttons on your shirt, the one given to you when you arrived at the facility. As your fingers traced the rims of the buttons, you counted some of the people from the Field.  
  
Some were dead like Beth, Priscilla, and Julian. Some were still in the Field like Lydia, Joanna, and Annie. Some were taken to a new home like Rachel, Ruth, and Kisa. Some were unknown like Harriet, Sonya, and Phoebe.  
  
You cursed inwardly, wishing to be with Harriet and Sonya. Not only did you want to know if they were alright, but you also wanted to be a group once more. After your year in the Field, you got very attached to all of them. Being without them in a world you had no idea about made you nervous. If they were alive, would they be able to adapt on their own? Would they find their way back to you, or you to them? Would they even miss you?  
  
You felt yourself drowning once more, but this time it wasn't literal. You were drowning in your negative thoughts. Worrying about anything anymore felt like a waste of time, but you still would do it.  
  
You finally moved on from your buttons and wrapped yourself in the blanket provided for you. "Goodnight," you mumbled, but no one would hear you; all but you and one other were kidnapped by the Right Arm or taken to their new home. The locked room was all yours. While privacy was good for a change, you still wished someone would reply to you.  
  
After what seemed like hours, you started feeling your consciousness fading. You let yourself feel numb, trying to empty your mind enough to sleep. This would be the seventh night you had been here; the seventh night of peace, waiting for transportation to your new home. Hoping to dream about this new home, you finally fell asleep...  
  
Only to be abruptly woken up by someone shaking your shoulder. Your eyes snapped open and adjusted to see the culprit: Aris, the only one left from your maze. "Aris, what the hell? What are you doing?"  
  
Aris pulled on your arm, forcing you out of the bed. "There's no time to explain, we need to go now!" he almost yelled, panic struck on his face.  
  
He crouched on the ground and crawled under your bed, heading towards the vent. During the past week, Aris had snuck through the vent system to come speak to you without any officials knowing, but he would never enter the room; he'd talk to you from inside the vent. He would tell you about stretchers with people on them being brought into one of the closed rooms, but you never read into it that much.  
  
"Aris, you tell me what's going on right now." you demanded. Aris was your friend, but you still felt seniority over him from the Field.  
  
"(Your name), come on, please! Just trust me." he almost begged. You stared down at him for a moment before swallowing your pride and getting down on all of your limbs to follow him.  
  
Crawling into the vent, you realized both of you were not alone. You could barely see him, as he was deeper in the vent, but you knew he was male due to his stature. "And your friend is...?" you asked, following them both as they quickly crawled through the vent system, leading you to an unknown location.  
  
"I'm Winston," the unknown boy said to you before returning his attention to Aris and crawling. "Where to now?"  
  
"Other side of the gate. We'll let Thomas out that way; their keycard probably won't work so we need a new one." Aris replied, taking the lead and scurrying down the hole. You chuckled to yourself, Aris reminding you of a rat.  
  
From the outside of the vents, you could hear a siren blaring. You started to panic, wondering what Aris had gotten into this time. He was a scrawny kid, but that didn't mean he wasn't a troublemaker. He was only in the Field for a couple days, but in those couple days of knowing him, you knew behind his somewhat quiet appearance was just a kid.  
  
"Are you going to tell me what's going on now or do I need to turn around and go back to bed?" you slightly whined. You trusted Aris enough to continue following him, but not being in the loop was making you a bit angry.  
  
"This place is under WICKED. We never really escaped." Aris explained, looking left and right as if trying to remember which way to turn before scurrying away.  
  
"You're joking, right?" you said, ready to play along with his little prank. A response never came. You swallowed hard, thinking over what had happened.  
  
When you escaped from the Field, you watched a projection of a doctor named Ava Paige explain the world’s predicament. Then, the doors opened and people rushed in to pull you out of the laboratory and into a helicopter. The people there said that you were safe and brought you to a facility where you were fed, given a real bed, and promised a new life. Was all of that really a lie?  
  
"Aris, you need to explain all of this now." you said. Aris stopped crawling and unlatched what seemed to be the vent’s cover. Without replying to you, he pushed open the cover and jumped down. Winston followed once it seemed Aris was out of the way. When you approached the opening, you stared down at both Aris and Winston. Noticing your hesitation, Aris moved directly under the opening and raised out his arms, as if waiting to catch you. "You're kidding, right?"  
  
   Aris thought about it for a moment before standing strong, still confident he could catch you. It wasn't that long of a jump, but that wasn't what was worrying you about this situation; you could probably break Aris, he was so small. Still, regardless of your worries, you grabbed the ledge of the opening and dangled yourself out of the hole. As you let go, you felt your torso being wrapped by Aris' arms to lighten your fall.  
  
"You going to tell me everything going on now?" you meant to ask, but your sentence was cut short by Winston covering your mouth with his hand and having him push you and Aris against the nearby wall. From around a corner, you could see one person walking around; pacing nervously was more like it.  
  
"WICKED orchestrated a fake rescue; Mr. Janson is with them. Those bodies going into the back room are being drained of some kind of cure for the Flare, I guess." Aris whispered to you. You knew Aris wasn't creative enough to think up something like this. Letting that sink in, you were released from Winston. When Aris was also free, he picked up a nearby, metal pole; God knows what it was doing there, it was probably off of something in the facility.  
  
Aris peered over the corner of the wall, watching the person looming there like a security guard. Analyzing his patterns, Winston finally left your hiding spot and jumped the guard. One good, hard whack to the head was enough to get him off his feet and onto the ground, motionless and... Dead?  
  
"Holy shit," you exclaimed coming from your hiding place. "You killed that guy!"  
  
Winston put a finger to the guard's neck. "No, his heart's still beating. He's breathing, too."  
  
You stared at the unconscious guard for a moment before piping up again. "Holy shit, you almost killed that guy!" Winston and Aris chuckled before focusing on the large, metal door in front of them; the same door you first entered the facility from.  
  
You looked through the small, dirty window on the door. It showed the hallway that lead into the building, but it wasn't empty. There were a couple of teenagers about your age at the door, another teenager further in, and Mr. Janson with more guards by his side. They all looked panicked in one way or another.  
  
Looking closer, you realized you knew one of them: Thomas. Aris had pointed him out earlier that day in the cafeteria. "Aris, your friend is out there." you pointed out. Aris moved to the keypad for the metal door while Winston scavenged the unconscious guard's body. When he was finished, Winston also moved to the keypad with a stolen keycard.  
  
"Time to save them." Winston mumbled to himself, swiping the card under the keypad. Accepting the key, the door opened with a groan of metal and the group of four in front of the door stared in shock as if the door should not have opened in the first place.  
  
You didn't have much time to take in everyone, but you did analyze the girl. She was of average size with dark, long hair, and clear blue eyes. She looked like Rachel. You hadn't seen her before. The others, you briefly saw when Aris pointed out Thomas. Was it because she looked like Rachel that you noticed her first?  
  
"Hey guys," Aris said to the group with a sweet smile, as if he was proud of his actions. The group stared at him dumbfounded as if Aris was the last person they expected to see. They then turned their attention to you.  
  
"Who the hell are you?" one of the boys in the group asked you. He was tall, and from the look of it, was from some Asian descent.  
  
"Not that now's the time for it," you paused for dramatic effect. "But it's (Your name)."  
  
The group rushed through the door and stared back at Thomas. One of his friends called for him, but Thomas did not rush through the door before shooting at Mr. Janson and his men. Walking backwards, Thomas shot the weird, electric gun he had in his hands several times at Mr. Janson until it was out of ammunition. He threw the gun at their feet and bolted for the door, but not before Mr. Janson used some kind of com to alert a control centre to shut the door.  
  
The metal door started to close the same way it opened; loudly and not slowly, but not too quickly either. Thomas continued to dash for the door, his friends cheering him on. Thomas ran for towards the closing door and slid under it at the last minute, a miracle that he made it in your eyes. Mr. Janson and his grunts were stuck on the other side and to keep them there, Aris used the metal pipe he had from earlier to bash the keypad beside the door. Despite Mr. Janson's attempts to open the door with his respective keycard, the broken machine would not allow him access.  
  
Winston went back to the unconscious guard from earlier and pulled a weapon off of him; a, hopefully, loaded gun. With the weapon secured, everyone ran for the main exit of the building. Thomas pulled the lever that opened the outside door. It was loud, but not as loud as the blowing wind outside that was raging on. You contemplated on staying behind due to the absurd weather outside, but you were too far stuck with these people to try and head back.  
  
Thomas urged everyone outside, but you could barely hear him over the gusts of wind. The only thing that finally made you move was Aris pulling at your arm once again. Into the blowing sand you and your companions went, but you had no idea where you were going.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

"We'll lose them in the storm!" you heard Thomas' voice cut through the wind. Sand pelted at your face, causing you to flinch every second as you ran. You could barely see anything through the darkness both caused by nighttime and sand blocking any sources of light. The only thing you could see were lights of motor bikes, on them were guards trying to find you.  
  
Running through the sand was no easy business. You may have been a Scout, but when you were running in the maze, it was solid ground, not soft sand. It clung to your feet as you took each step, slowing you down, keeping you with a loss of traction.  
  
Aris grabbed your hand during the chaos to keep you from getting lost. As he pulled on your hand, he helped guide you so both of you would stick together with Thomas.  
  
"If they kill us, I'm going to kill you, Aris!" you said, only loud enough for him to hear it. You didn't hear him say anything back, but instead felt his hand wrap tighter around yours. You felt your cheeks get hotter, but you just assumed it was from the sand hitting your face... Or at least convinced yourself that was it. It definitely didn't have anything to do with this being one of the only times you remember having touched a boy, right?   
  
Now wasn't the time to think of mild attraction, though. While running, Aris stumbled over his feet and fell to the ground, causing you to fall as well. This proved to be a good idea to Thomas, though, as he instructed everyone to drop to the ground, hoping your pursuers wouldn't see you even with their lights. You all dropped to the ground, bundling up and praying that no one would find you.  
  
As you were buffeted by the sandstorm, you felt one of your new acquaintances position themselves over you as if trying to shelter you from the sand. Part of you felt touched, the other felt guilty, but you didn't deny their protection. When you looked up to see who it was, he looked down and nodded at you. You couldn't tell who it was in the end considering how dark it was, but you knew it wasn't the Rachel lookalike. Not only were their features more masculine, from what little features you could see, but they were too big to be not-Rachel; in fact, it was most likely the tallest boy of the group.  
  
After what seemed like hours of tension, Thomas instructed the group to start moving, but to stay low. You and Aris quickly rose to your feet and trudged as low as you could in hopes no one would see you. Gradually, the farther you got, the more distant your pursuers sounded. Soon, it was as if they were gone.  
  
"I think we lost them." someone called; the same voice of the guy who asked who you were earlier. Aris loosened his grip around your hand as if relieved.  
  
You looked around as best as you could. There was nothing. You could see nothing through the blazing wind that picked up grains of loose sand. Taking the lead, it was now your turn to pull Aris as you got closer to the rest of the group. You stopped near one of the group members and felt around until he grabbed your other hand. With this, you were now holding two guys' hands, but it made you feel more secure.  
  
Suddenly, you heard Thomas in the middle of the storm yelling someone's name. You assumed he was referring to the girl as he called, "Teresa!"  
  
One of the other boys yelled at her. "Don't go in there!" It was a voice you hadn't heard yet.  
  
"Get down here!" the girl called back. Thomas took no time to waste.  
  
"Get inside, get inside!" he shouted to the group, your new handholding buddy was the first to move, running towards Thomas' voice. As you got closer. You could make out some kind of pyramid of glass buried in the sand. There was an opening of broken glass which you assumed is where the girl went in, considering you saw the group running in as well.  
  
"Come on, hurry." your handholding buddy urged. You could hear his British accent, although you had to wonder how you remembered what any kinds of accents sounded like since the maze.  
  
Entering the pyramid, you immediately started slipping down the sand slope. The British boy held up both of your hands to re-balance you, making sure both of you slid down easily. Aris seemed to have no trouble on the way down.  
  
You thought it was impossible for it to get any darker, but inside the structure was dark as closing your eyes. The only source of light was faded moonlight that could barely be seen in the sand anyways. This wasn't the case for long, though, as someone brought out a flashlight. It was pointed to the ground so no one would feel interrogated, but at least now you could see things a little more clear.  
  
Aris finally let go of your hand, but the other boy held strong. You didn't try pulling away at the moment; there were more things to be concerned about.  
  
"Where the hell are we?" the boy with the flashlight asked, pointing the flashlight around for a split second to look at your surroundings. As he did that, for a split second, you saw he was holding some kind of backpack. That was where the flashlight came from, you thought.  
  
"We gotta go." Thomas said before anyone was settled. He began to walk farther into the structure.  
  
"No," the girl said, staying in her place. Thomas didn't answer at first until she raised her voice, saying, "Thomas, stop." Thomas turned around and stared at her. "Tell me what's going on."  
  
The group moved in a circular formation with Thomas being the point. You had to admit, getting the story from what seemed like the leader would be nice. He hesitated at first, but he was no match for everyone staring at him. "It's WICKED." he almost whispered before continuing, as if still categorizing his thoughts. "It's WICKED; they lied to us. Me and Aris, we found bodies. Too many to count."  
  
You looked over at Aris. Even with the dim lighting, you could see Aris shudder at the thought. This was enough to convince you, but your curiosity was present in the others. "What do you mean? Dead bodies?" the boy with the flashlight asked.  
  
"No, but they weren't alive, either." Thomas replied. As he continued his story, he gestured with his hands almost every word. "They had them strung up with tubes coming out of them. They were being drained." he paused before continuing again. "There's something inside of us that WICKED wants. Something in our blood."  
  
The circle of teenagers all looked at each other. You did as well, looking up at the boy who was holding your hand. He momentarily squeezed your hand and got close enough for you to feel his arm against yours as if to assure you, but you could feel he was freaked out over how stiff his arm was.  
  
"So we get as far away from them as possible." Thomas stated his conclusion. Everyone seemed to agree but only one person said something: the boy holding your hand.  
  
"Okay, so what's the plan?" he asked. Thomas said nothing. "You do have a plan, right?"  
  
"Yeah," Thomas said in return, but you weren't convinced. Neither was the boy.  
  
"We followed you out here, Thomas, and now you say that you have no idea what we're doing?" the boy raised his voice. This time, you squeezed his hand to try and comfort him, but he responded by letting go of your hand. You didn't feel hurt; you were too smart to read into that. He was just scared. So were you.  
  
"Wait," Aris piped up for the first time in a while. "Janson said something about people hiding in the mountains. Some kind of resistance or army."  
  
"The Right Arm." Thomas mumbled, knowing what Aris was talking about. You mumbled it as well to yourself. Mr. Janson had told you that's who took Harriet and Sonya, but they weren't described as a resistance to you; they were described as goons. Not that you trusted Mr. Janson anymore, though. "The Right Arm, if they're really against WICKED, maybe they can help us."  
  
"People? In the mountains? Mountain people?" the boy asked back, completely dumbfounded. Even you had to admit, that plan was too vague for your liking. "That's your plan?"  
  
Thomas paused, thinking it over, but concluded with, "It's the only chance we have." He proved the boy silent, but no one had a chance to think more on the subject.  
  
"Hey guys, check it out." Winston called. He had his back to the group and was crouching on the ground; you have no idea when he left the group and turned his attentions there. "Minho, give me your light."  
  
The guy with the flashlight, now most presumably Minho, shone the light towards the ground where Winston was looking. There, in the sand that crept from the opening of the building, were footprints. "Someone's been down here."  
  
You looked down at the footprints and traced in your mind where they seemed to go until they faded off from too little sand. You followed them, seeing where they led.  
  
"(Your name)," Aris called to you. You looked back at him, but instead of stopping and going back to him, you gestured for him and the rest of the group to just follow you. More cautiously than you, they followed. Minho walked beside you, holding the flashlight in the direction you were walking.  
  
You reached a large, metal door. It wasn't like the door from the facility you escaped from, more like a garage door. "Come on, open up." Minho said, knocking on the metal. He, Thomas, and a larger boy who you didn't know yet pulled the door open and you all scurried inside.  
  
Inside looked kind of like a lobby of some sort. There were stands with extra flashlights at the entrance, piles of clothes in one of the corners, jugs of water against the walls, and several different crevices that seemed to lead to other rooms. "Looks like people lived here." Minho came to the conclusion that everyone had seemed to.  
  
"Where are they now?" the British boy asked. In the corner of your eye, the girl picked up a flashlight and turned it on. She flinched, accidentally holding the lit side towards her face, making you chuckle a bit.  
  
"Let's pack some of this up. Anything you think we might need." Thomas said, pulling out some abandoned bags from under a table. "We’ll split up and see what else we can find. We’ll meet back here." he finished, suggestions he and Minho would go on their own.  
  
"Wait, Thomas." The British boy stopped him. You expected them to continue their mountain people conversation from before, but all he did was throw Thomas his own flashlight.  
  
With a, "Let's go," to Minho, both of them were gone.  
  
It was only then that you thought of asking for everyone's name. You cursed to yourself for not even thinking of asking before, despite acknowledging you didn't know everyone. Then again, it didn't matter much; you picked up who Thomas, Minho, and Teresa were. You also knew Winston, and of course you knew Aris. It was just the two boys.  
  
"So you know that I'm (Your name). This is Aris," you pointed to Aris and then grabbed your own flashlight. "Who are you guys?  
  
The boys looked at each other for a moment before the British one spoke. "I'm Newt. This is Frypan, Teresa, and Winston." he gestured to everyone respectfully. "Those two were Thomas and Minho."  
  
"I figured." you replied with a smug grin. You pointed the flashlight around the building. It looked like an old shopping mall. The entrance you used looked like a glass roof, so the steep hill of sand you used to get in was large enough to get you from the roof to the top floor of the mall.  
  
Suddenly, Teresa gasped loudly. Everyone around turned towards her, flashlights illuminating her. "You alright?" Newt called over to her. When she didn't respond right away, you moved to her side. There were ugly, dismembered, plastic clothing models, but nothing dangerous.  
  
"I'm fine," Teresa said once she calmed down. You put a hand on her shoulder and went back to your scavenging.  
  
Aris tapped your shoulder to get your attention. "Winston and I are going to check the back rooms. Stay with Newt and Frypan?" he asked you as if making sure you'd stay within a safe distance.  
  
"Sure," you obliged, although you felt as if you could take care of yourself from now on. "Have fun with your new friend." you shook his hair a bit. Aris smiled a bit bashfully before going off with Winston. It was nice to see Aris finally having a male friend; he was way too quiet in Mr. Janson's facility, and in the maze, he was only surrounded by girls.  
  
At first, you thought about pairing up with Teresa, making equal groups of two for everyone, but when you found her changing into some warmer clothes, you thought it would be best to leave her alone for a while.  
  
Instead, you found a small room with more jugs of water. In the corner of the room, there were boxes; some were open, some weren't. As you dug through them, you found granola bars or something of the like; not many, but they hadn't expired yet and would at least tide everyone over. If you were headed towards the mountains, who knew how long you'd be walking. You took as many as you could find and stuffed them in a bag.  
  
Working diligently, you had no idea what was looming in the entrance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I ended up having to stop this chapter a bit abruptly. My plans were that every chapter be five pages in my iPad's writing tool, but the whole thing ended up being fourteen pages... Oops...
> 
> So I cut it at five, and am just going to have to settle for a nine page chapter... More oops.
> 
> I hope you enjoy!


	3. Chapter 3

You heard a knocking on the nearby wall. When you turned around, you saw Newt standing in the doorway. "You come here often, hot stuff?" you asked him. He let himself chuckle before sitting beside you, looking through the boxes like you had done a couple of minutes before.  
  
"Only when you do." he replied. You looked at him, surprised he would retaliate your joke. Judging from the way he stayed silent after that, you thought he was surprised of himself, too.  
  
"So what's your deal? You were in a maze, right?" you asked him, standing up and slinging your half full bag over your shoulder. He copied your movements with his own bag.  
  
"Yeah. With everyone here but you and Aris."  
  
You thought for a moment. Your group was filled with girls and one boy. From what you gathered, their group was the opposite. "So a sausage fest?" you grinned, leaving the room. Newt followed you.  
  
"I guess you could put it that way." he scratched the back of his head.  
  
"So am I your first?" you winked suggestively, aware of how you worded that sentence. "I mean, I get the vibe that Teresa and Thomas are a thing." Newt pondered about your question before answering.  
  
"Would you like to be?"  
  
You both giggled. You wouldn't call this flirting. It was more along the lines of friendly bantering between people who potentially thought each other to be relatively attractive. Not flirting, clearly. It was just a way to get to know each other; a way to lighten the mood after the great escape from WICKED.  
  
You thought back to WICKED. They orchestrated this whole thing; they made you feel safe even when you weren't. Were you really safe now? What if they were only making it look like you had escaped again?  
  
"What's with the frownie face all of a sudden?" Newt asked you, stopping you from walking anywhere. You looked into his eyes for the first time. Neither yours nor his flashlight did any justice when it came to seeing what colour his eyes were, but you could make out his eyes staring back into yours.  
  
"I'm just worried that WICKED is behind all of this, just like before." you told him. You saw no reason to lie. If Newt was part of WICKED, too, then so be it.  
  
Newt pursed his lips, thinking about how to comfort you. "Let's not think like that, okay?" was his only way of trying to change the topic. You sighed, that answer not satisfying you. He realized this. "If WICKED really was behind that escape, then why chase us all that way?" he tried reasoning with you.  
  
You knew better. "To make us think we were really escaping. Manipulate us, you know?" you said. You looked around to see what else you could find for the journey. Newt didn't say anything for a while, he just walked beside you.  
  
When you stopped walking, Newt stopped with you in almost perfect sync. "Don't you wish you could do something that WICKED has nothing to do with?" you asked him. "Even better, be free to do whatever we wanted without having to worry about WICKED being on out tails."  
  
"Don't we all want that?" he licked his lips, choosing his words carefully. You sighed again; he was right, it's just not the answer you were looking for.  
  
"That's all I want. I mean, I want to be safe from them, but I feel like asking to do one thing without their consent is more reasonable of a request to the almighty power." you said almost in a joking tone. If there was some kind of almighty power, would it have saved you by now? You didn't really know.  
  
Newt looked around. He found something of interest and grabbed at it. "Let's see if this works," you heard him mumble. From out of nowhere came a flash from his hands. "Perfect."  
  
"What the hell is that?" you tried peering into his hands. He didn't keep them from your sight, so you were able to see what he was holding: an instant film camera.  
  
"Let's brighten the mood with this. WICKED couldn't have planned for us to find this camera, right?" Newt said, positioning the camera to have the lens face you. You laughed a bit, making a small smile.  
  
When the camera clicked to signal it had taken the picture, it wasn't long before the picture came sliding out. You went to take it, but Newt reached for it first. Accidentally touching his hand, you pulled back and felt your cheeks grow hot. You held his hand earlier like you had done it every day, but now was different; before you were comforting and helping each other and now you were not-flirting.  
  
Newt ended up taking the photo that stuck out of the camera. He looked it over and positioned it so it was beside your face, comparing it to the real you.  
  
"So, am I a masterpiece?" you laughed, posing dramatically. He chuckled in return.  
  
"Quite so. Definitely better." he almost purred. You had no idea whether he was talking about you, being the real article, or the photograph, but the look in Newt's eyes hinted that's exactly what he panned.  
  
"So me or the photo?" you asked, lunging to reach the photo. Unfortunately, you were definitely not as tall as Newt. He held the photo up as high as he could, leaving you scrambling for it below him.  
  
Instead of replying, he gave you this look that was a mixture of, 'you'll never know,' and, 'come find out.'  
  
Giving up on the photo, you took the camera from Newt as he was distracted, and snapped a photo of him. Like he did, you kept the developed photo to yourself. As you examined it, you didn't forget to give him sassy looks back.  
  
When Newt tried grabbing the picture, you tried keeping it from him, but it's not like you could keep it away from him forever. You turned your back to him, holding the picture close to your chest. Newt retaliated not by swooping over to face you like you expected, but instead he wrapped his arms around you to grab at your hands.  
  
You almost squealed out of amusement and shock, but you held it in. You realized now would be a good change to take your own picture while he was focused on his. You manoeuvred yourself to let him take his photo, and in the meantime while he pulled away, you grabbed your own. When he realized what you had done, you gave him a look that said, 'beat that.'  
  
Both of you looked at your respective photos. It occurred to you that you never had really seen yourself before. There were no mirrors in the facility, nor in the maze. The only way you had seen your face was by looking in a pool of water and hoping the reflection you saw was faithful.  
  
"I didn't realize I looked like that." you whispered to yourself, letting your looks sink in. Your face wasn't what you had expected... Or maybe it was, but this being the first time you were really seeing your face, you were almost shocked.  
  
"What?" Newt questioned. From the look on his face, it seemed like he knew what he looked like from before. Was it that odd you didn't know what you looked like?  
  
"I didn't know I looked so weird." you said. It wasn't that you had a low self esteem; weird was a bad choice of words. You just didn't know how to put it.  
  
"Well I think it's gorgeous." Newt assured you.  
  
"You think my face is gorgeous?" you had to confirm for yourself. Was Newt really such a smooth talker?  
  
"No, of course not. The photo is gorgeous."  
  
You weren't angry; you would have done the same. You were still embarrassed, though. That deserved a punch. You hit Newt's shoulder, ignoring his cry of pain. "Go drink your tea, lizard."  
  
"Well if you want compliments, you have to return the favour." Newt chuckled to himself. You opened your bag and stuffed some of the food you found into his own bag; it wasn't useful, but you wanted fit that camera in your bag just for your own pleasure.  
  
"So you want me to call you gorgeous, then?" you smugly said. Newt almost glared at you. Before he could say anything, you gestured for him to get closer to you. "Let's take another picture. Three of them."  
  
Newt hesitated for a moment before getting close to you. You nestled playfully into Newt and faced the camera towards the both of you. After you took one picture and it developed, you repeated the process twice more.  
  
"Why three?" Newt questioned your actions. You took one of the pictures and gave it to him.  
  
"One for me, one for you, and one to leave here; proof that we were here." you said, taking the third photo and resting it on a ledge. You smiled sweetly at your work, feeling at peace to know there was proof that both you and your new friend existed at one time. Newt gave you a bittersweet smile before leaving to finish his packing.  
  
"You going to come with me?" he called to you. You pondered it over for a moment as you hid your copy of the picture in your pocket.  
  
"Sure. Let me pack the camera?"  
  
You saw some confliction in his face, and you knew why; it would be taking up space that could be used for things you really needed, but Newt didn't want to take too much fun away from you. He repositioned his bag on his shoulder, but before he could reply, the room was filled with light. It wasn't bright light, but it was enough to finally see without flashlights.  
  
Even before you could rejoice, however, you heard a muffled shout from further in the building. Both you and Newt looked at each other, worried about who would shout. You moved to the meeting place, Newt not far behind. You found everyone else had the same idea; Aris, Winston, Teresa, and Frypan had already gathered at the meeting place. The only people that weren't there were Thomas.  
  
"What's going on?" Winston was the first to talk.  
  
"I don't know," Frypan replied. All of you looked around at each other.  
  
"Did you guys turn on the lights?" you asked everyone, minus Newt; he was with you and unless he magically turned on the lights without you seeing, he wasn't responsible for the lights. No one claimed to have done so, though, so you assumed the people who turned the lights on was Thomas and Minho.  
  
"Hey!" you all heard in the distance. It was almost inaudible considering how far it came from, but as the sound got closer, you could hear more and more. "Hey! Go!"  
  
Finally, you saw Thomas and Minho running towards you. "You got the lights on? Cool!" you yelled at them, giving them a thumbs up. Both Thomas and Minho didn't sound pleased, though. They kept yelling to the group to, 'go,' but go where?  
  
Your question was answered when you saw people or things chasing Thomas and Minho. The answer: anywhere but here.  
  
"Oh shit," Newt mumbled under his breath before bolting, the others following pursuit.  
  
"Not cool anymore!" you yelled at Thomas before beginning to run yourself.  
  
As you ran with all your might, you heard people yelling to get out of the area, to keep running, etcetera. You reminded yourself about how to felt like you were running from Frights back in the maze, not that you really saw one up close until the great escape.  
  
"Thomas, Minho, what the hell are those things?" you heard Winston ask. You peered behind you to see your new pursuers. You heard them groaning and roaring like something that wasn't human, but their physical appearance was one of a broken man.  
  
"Could they be Cranks?" you replied, remembering what those WICKED people warned you about early on.  
  
"I don't know, just keep going!" Thomas piped up, still in the back of the group. Despite that, you concluded they were Cranks. That's what you'd call them, anyways.  
  
While running, you looked at Newt who wasn't much far in front of you. In fact, you were surprised he was in front of you at all when you realized it; Newt was running with a limp, and a big one at that. In the darkness of the desert, you didn't realize it. Now, there was dim lighting to at least see the outline of his body struggling along. You wondered how he could run with such a big limp.  
  
Unfortunately, you'd find out. While you got distracted from Newt's limp, of course it would be appropriate to fall. "Shit," you cried, feeling yourself lose your balance and hit the floor. As quickly as you could, you tried picking yourself up, but you right away realized your ankle hurt like hell. You knew it wasn't broken; it wasn't that bad of a hell. It probably wasn't sprained or twisted either. You were most likely just being a baby about it.  
  
Literally picking you up from your thoughts, you felt arms grab at you. At first, they helped you up to your feet, but they didn't stop there; your feet were lifted off the ground and you were hauled over the culprit's shoulder.  
  
You were expecting it to have been Aris, but Aris was one of the lead runners. It wasn't Aris. Maybe it was Minho; he seemed like a muscular guy and he was far at the back the last time you checked. Your theory was disproved when you watched Minho and Thomas pass you and your carrier . What tipped you off to who was carrying you was the uneven jolts going through you as your carrier hit the ground with his limp.  
  
"Newt?! What the hell?" you yelled at him. He had no time to reply as a Crank crashed through a nearby wall and tackled both you and Newt.  
  
You were basically tossed from the force the Crank hit Newt with. When you stopped tumbling, you felt your sore leg fall off any surface. Startled, you pulled your leg back and looked around where you landed. You were on something of a ledge, seemingly on a third floor. You knew you needed to take advantage of this to get the Crank of Newt.  
  
"Thomas, help!" you desperately cried as you went to pry off the Crank, who in turn, was clawing at both you and Newt.  
  
Thomas didn't hesitate. He stopped running and turned back for the both of you, maybe more Newt than you. "Watch out," he signalled you. You ducked your head and, in the corner of your eyes, saw Thomas kick the Crank so hard that the Crank fell off Newt and off the ledge. "You okay?" he asked Newt, helping his friend up. You forced yourself up.  
  
"Yeah. Thanks, Tommy." Newt said back, clearly out of breath. He looked over at you to see if you were alright. After giving him a nod, you all bolted after the others. Newt grabbed your hand and urged you along, keeping his hand high trying to keep you from falling again.  
  
The group led you down a large corridor with several, locked doors. As Cranks gained on you in the cramped space, you felt your heart drop to your stomach when you heard Minho yelling at the front, "It's a dead end!"  
  
"Get us out of here, Thomas!" Teresa cried. Winston pushed his way through the group, past you and Newt, and stood in the middle of the corridor.  
  
"This one!" Thomas shouted in return, finding a large door with its hinges almost broken off. He kicked the door like he did the crank earlier, but it barely budged.  
  
"I'll hold them back," Winston said, pulling out the gun he retrieved from the guard at the facility. He shot at the Cranks, but even after everyone pitched in to break the door down, the Cranks were still getting closer. "Get the door open!" Winston demanded, realizing he was running low on bullets.  
  
When you got the chance, you banged your whole body into the door, but the one to finally break through the door was Frypan. Body slamming the door, it finally gave and allowed you all entrance.  
  
"Come on, it's open!" Minho called back to Winston, but you took it as if he was saying it to everyone.  
  
"Let's go!" you shouted, running through the door to what you hoped would be safety. You tightened your grip on Newt's hand, but he let go and sprinted back to the door. When you turned around, that's when you noticed Winston half in, half out of the door. Cranks got him and were pulling him back inside the corridor.  
  
The guys grabbed at him leaving you and Teresa outside of the tug-of-Winston-war.  
  
"Pull! Keep pulling!" Thomas cried. All the boys pulled at Winston, trying to get the Cranks off of him. With no room to get in and pull, you and Teresa were just there to be support.  
  
"Thomas, come on!" Teresa said, cheering them on, but you would be more useful. You quickly looked around and found some kind of stick. When you pulled on it, you found it was a broom of some sort, but it would have to do. You took your trusty broom and started whacking at the Cranks whose heads popped into the door.  
  
With the combination of you distracting the Cranks and the boys pulling at him, Winston was finally free. Frypan and Newt helped him up to his feet, pulling his arms around their shoulders, and bolted for the exit. You were right behind them, but not before nodding to Thomas and Minho. This time, you didn't dare look back; you heard Minho behind you, and soon, you heard Thomas, too.  
  
The lead of the group, presumably Aris and Teresa, led you out of the building. It turns out you weren't on any third floors like you had thought previously, but instead, where you were scavenging was some kind of basement. You were now on ground level, as you exited the shopping mall and were now running through rubble.  
  
Climbing over a large piece of stone, you almost screamed when someone behind you pulled your arm. You would have if they didn't put their hand over your mouth. They pulled you back and under the stone you had climbed over, holding you close to them to keep you quiet.  
  
Before freaking out too much, you noticed that it was Minho, and let yourself go almost limp out of relief. You looked around to see everyone hiding with you, Thomas holding one flashlight that was pointed towards his chest to keep anyone but you from seeing the light. He very soon turned it off, leaving you all in darkness. The only noises being made were odd groans and cracks coming from the Cranks that were looking for you and Winston who whimpered in pain every once in a while.  
  
When you seemed calm enough, Minho took his hand away from your mouth, but kept his arms wrapped around you. You assumed he was trying to keep you far from sight as possible. In return, you tried to make yourself as small as possible in his arms, pulling your legs towards you.  
  
Maybe hours passed like this. Maybe minutes. All you knew is Minho was nodding off because he let out a small snore; something you got so startled from, you elbowed him in the gut and woke him up. You held your tongue from apologizing, but realized that that was the only sound you heard minus Winston. There were no more groans, no more clicks, no more footsteps.  
  
"I think we're okay," you whispered loud enough for everyone to hear. Thomas cautiously turned on the flashlight and pointed it at Winston temporarily.  
  
 "I found bandages," Teresa said, fishing through a bag she was able to pack. Thomas then pointed his flashlight towards Teresa to allow her to see better. You untangled yourself from Minho and tried to move over to Winston, but another hand grabbed yours to stop you. When you looked over, it was Newt.  
  
"Your leg alright?" he whispered to you. It only just dawned on you that you ankle earlier. After being scared almost to death by Minho twice, it didn't occur to you that it happened. Now, you felt no pain.  
  
"Yeah, I'm good. Thanks." you said, this time untangling yourself from Newt. You crawled over to Winston to see what was going on. Teresa had passed the bandages to Frypan who was looking at them like they were a foreign object.  
  
"What I wouldn't give to have Jeff right about now," he mumbled. You had to assume that Jeff was from his maze. Aris snatched the bandages and began working on Winston. In the light of Thomas' flashlight, you could see large gashes coming from Winston's stomach. It was more damage than normal nails could have done. You held your hand over your mouth and crawled back to your spot in front of Minho.  
  
"You good?" Minho asked you. You nodded your head to say yes, but your hand stayed on your mouth. Your nod was more to convince yourself, not Minho.  
  
A few minutes later, Aris signalled he was done with Winston's medical procedure. "It's as good as it's going to get." he announced, wiping some sweat off of his head.  
  
"We should get some sleep, then." Thomas said, shuffling around in his spot to make myself more comfortable.  
  
"With those things out there?" you asked. You knew it was necessary, but that didn't stop you from being worried.  
  
"There's not much else we can do. If they didn't find us before, they won't find us now." Minho reasoned, shifting to lie down. He moved his legs so they rested around you, hinting he didn't mind you staying there. He seemed too tired to argue, so you shut your mouth.  
  
"Maybe we should have someone keep watch for a while and switch?" Teresa suggested. No one replied, not even you. You didn't want to ask anyone to keep watch, but you didn't want to do it either; you wouldn't want to stay awake alone.  
  
The group's final consensus was to sleep. You turned to sleep on your stomach and flopped on Minho. He grunted at first from your weight, but if you were going to stay with him, he'd have to make do with it; he did imply he was alright with it earlier, and despite showing discomfort at first, he shifted until he was comfortable again.  
  
You felt a bit embarrassed by this; you were resting on him like you two were very close, but again, he was the one who started it.  
  
Minho fell asleep easily. You, not so much. Your fear of being up alone was probably being realized; no one else was making a peep, and Thomas turned off the flashlight a while ago, so you couldn't tell.  
  
Out of nowhere, though, you heard someone outwardly shiver. "Newt?" you asked to darkness, just guessing it was him.  
  
"You're still up, (Your name)?" he replied. You let your eyes adjust to see where he was sitting.  
  
"No, I'm sleep talking," you sarcastically answered, slowly getting off of Minho. He didn't wake up, thank goodness. "Cold?"  
  
"A bit." he admitted. You crawled away from Minho and sat beside Newt. The way Minho was positioned, you were able to sling your legs over him and rest them on his stomach to leave some kind of warmth on Minho. You then snuggled beside Newt to share what body heat you had. "Thanks," he mumbled.  
  
You took the chance to rest your head on his shoulder and close your eyes. It would be a long night from then. As much as you hoped you'd be lulled to sleep right away, you didn't find sleep until what seemed to be another hour later.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry Winston, I guess we have to cut things short... H-hehe...


	4. Chapter 4

"Hey, hey! Get out of here."  
  
You snapped your eyes open from the sudden shouting, scared the Cranks had come back and found you. In the process of your muscles spasming from waking up, you hit an unfortunate Minho in the face with your foot.  
  
"Ow!" he yelped in pain. You lifted your foot slowly from Minho. That was the second time you had woken him up. "Why are you always hitting me?"  
  
"Sorry," you mumbled an apology. "It's not like I'm trying to, I swear."  
  
From Thomas shouting and you moving from your sleeping position, Newt who had his head resting on top of yours was forced awake as well. "They gone?" he asked, still half asleep. He looked around before resting his head back on your shoulder.  
  
"Yeah, I think we're safe now." Thomas replied, standing up. "We should get moving. Pack it up." he finished. Thomas grabbed his bag and swung it over his shoulder. He then proceeded to wake up Aris and Frypan. Teresa had woken up on her own thanks to Thomas' freak out.  
  
Frypan stood up and went over to Winston to help him to his feet. Aris picked up his and Winston's bag, holding it out for the injured friend. You, on the other hand, stood up and picked up Minho's bag for him; you did kick him in the face and elbowed him in the gut. After Minho took his bag from you with a thanks, you helped Newt up who still would have liked to sleep longer.  
  
"Didn't get much sleep last night, Newt?" you asked. You already knew the answer, though. You were up with him for a while last night, despite him thinking you were sleeping.  
  
"I was watching the group last night to make sure none of those things came back." he said with a monotone voice, wiping his eyes. He must have been exhausted. Considering he was sleeping when you woke up, Newt definitely fell asleep at some point during the night, but there was no telling for how long.  
  
"Want me to carry you, baby boy?" you sarcastically asked. Newt gave you a look but said nothing, you were surprised when you felt a heavy weight drop on your back. Minho leaned all his weight on your back as if getting back at you for kicking him. "Oh come on, Minho, you're heavy!" you nudged him with your elbow. He didn't move.  
  
"Giddy up." he blatantly said. You could feel him almost going back to sleep as his weight increased for a split second.  
  
"Neigh." you imitated a horse as poorly as you could and jerked yourself free from him. This caused Minho to fall on his face without enough time to balance and support himself. You stared down at him as he squirmed on the ground before giving up, looking at you and glaring. "Oops?"  
  
Newt laughed at Minho, extending his hand to pull him up. Minho accepted his help and started walking once he was on his feet. You gave Minho a smug grin while he passed you, and despite him glaring at you, he had a small smile on his face. He was probably just still too tired to hate you yet.  
  
"You good to go?" Newt asked you. You nodded and started walking, Newt following close behind.  
  
Both of you took the back positions in the group, keeping an eye out behind you. You were greeted by countless of high, broken down buildings. Rubble was everywhere; glass and wood and stone were scattered about everywhere you stepped. It was as if the world was crumbling and you were in the middle of it. As you looked up at a building that had fallen, you shuddered. Were people in there when it fell?  
  
"What the hell happened to this place?" Frypan wondered out loud; it was what everyone was thinking but didn't have the balls to mention until then.  
  
"I dunno. It doesn't look like anyone's been here in a long time," Newt muttered.  
  
"Unless you count us," you halfheartedly agreed. You stopped walking to turn around and look straight behind you. It was a disaster no matter which way you looked. You felt a shiver go through your spine.  
  
"I hope the whole world's not like this," Aris said, but you barely heard him. Being at the front, and you now stopped in the back, Aris' voice was practically lost in the air to you.  
  
Newt must have noticed you didn't continue following them because you felt his hand rest on your shoulder and his voice saying, "You okay?" He didn't force you to follow before checking your wellbeing first. You almost felt touched.  
  
"I'm good." you reassured him. You meant to say more to be more convincing, but noting came to your mouth. Were you surprised the world was this way? Part of you felt like this was normal; you must have lived right in the middle of this before the maze. The damage done to these buildings couldn't have been done less than one year ago.  
  
Newt grabbed your hand and lightly tugged on it, signalling that you needed to go. You both jogged a bit to catch up to everyone, you keeping mind of Newt's limp. You reminded yourself that you needed to ask him about it later; now didn't feel like the right time, you didn't know him well enough to ask that so casually.  
  
This time, Thomas was the one to stop in his tracks. At first, you and Newt continued walking, but like you before, Newt stopped to see what Thomas was doing. When you looked, all he was doing was standing there, staring at the ground.  
  
"Woah, hang on, stop." he finally said. The whole group stopped to look at Thomas. "You hear that?"  
  
You strained your ears to listen. Thomas wasn't crazy, if he said he heard something, he did. You didn't hear anything at first, but soon you heard a low humming. You let go of Newt's hand to cup both of them around your ears. Still just a low humming get, but it was getting louder. Maybe it wasn't a humming, it was more like a...  
  
"Get down! Everybody hide!" Thomas yelled, scattering in his place. "In here," he finally said. He lunged down and hid under a large piece of rubble supported by more broken building pieces.  
  
You stood in place, still listening. It was a helicopter; the low humming was the sound of a helicopter. Thomas must have realized it. The same with everyone else. Was it WICKED? Were they really going this far to find you?  
  
You felt yourself grabbed and forced down under the rubble by Minho. "(Your name), what the hell?" he almost yelled at you. Like when you were running from the Cranks, he wrapped his arms around you as if trying to protect you. All you did was oblige to his movements, still in shock.  
  
The helicopters weren't  around for long; they flew past you rather quickly. You heard a collective sigh, you included in the bunch. You ran your hands over your face. "I knew it, they're not done with us." you mumbled to yourself.  
  
Minho released you and moved to get out from under the rock formation. "They're never gonna stop looking for us, are they?" he solemnly asked. This made you more scared than before, even though somewhere inside you, you had already come to this conclusion.  
  
Thomas gave the group some kind of motivating speech, but you didn't hear a coherent word of it. Instead, you were left to shake in your boots, still sitting in your hiding place. You watched them start to scatters about, but your legs wouldn't move to follow.  
  
Newt moved to your side and sat down. "(Your name)," he started, but nothing else came out. You pulled your knees to your chest, wrapped your arms around them, and rested your head on the tops of your legs. Newt responded to this by rubbing your back like the nice guy you had learned him to be.  
  
You mumbled something, but with your face in your knees, Newt hadn't heard you. "Pardon?" he asked for you to say it again.  
  
You slightly moved your head so your arms wouldn't be muffling your speech. "If they're going to keep looking for us, why bother?" Newt stared at you; you could feel his gaze, but that didn't stop you. "We might as well just give up. We can't fight them."  
  
Newt moved to face you and grabbed your shoulders. He gave you a small shake, saying, "(Your name), they can't stop us."  
  
You raised your head to face him. "Look me in the eyes and say that." you almost demanded. You didn't believe it. Did he? You needed to watch I'm as he said this. If he meant it, you would know.  
  
He stared you dead in the eye. "They won't stop us. I promise." he swore to you. He reached over to touch your cheek, brushing away a tear that had strayed from your eye; one you hadn't realized had spilled until it was gone.  
  
You'd be lying if you said you truly believed him, but you did feel slightly better. You would remember those words. "They can't stop us." you quietly repeated his words to yourself as if trying to convince yourself.  
  
"You guys okay?" Aris called to you. When you looked, you saw everyone sitting down somewhere; it looked like everyone had stopped for a break. Whether for you or for Winston, you were grateful.  
  
"We're good," Newt answered for the both of you, offering you his hands. You took them and he helped you up, careful to make her you didn't hit your head on the rocks you were hiding under. "Thomas, you ready?"  
  
"Yeah. We should keep going." Thomas replied, picking up the bag he discarded on the ground. Everyone followed in pursuit. You felt like you could use more rest, but you weren't about to slow down the group more than you already had.  
  
Thomas led the way from then on. It suited you perfectly fine to have Thomas as some kind of leader; in your maze, you were always under Harriet and Sonya's lead, so you weren't missing out on much. You had to wonder if Thomas was the leader of his own maze. "Thomas," you called him to get his attention. He turned his head towards you to signal he was listening. "How long were you in the maze?"  
  
"A couple days." he replied. That meant he was not the leader. "Teresa came up the next day."  
  
This mirrored your own maze experience. Beth had come up from the box and the next day, Aris, the first boy was brought up. "So you're the Beth equivalent." you mumbled to yourself. Thomas didn't seem to hear you, nor did he ask you to repeat yourself.  
  
Thomas led you all to basically a hill of rubble. You had to be a master of rock climbing to get over, or at least be agile enough to flail your way up. There was no way around it, so you began climbing. You didn't need help. Neither did Newt. Aris struggled at first with his footing, but once he got the hang of it, he was fine. You didn't pay attention to anyone else.  
  
"Everyone good?" Thomas collectively asked the group. No one replied so you assumed everyone was fine. When you looked down, you saw Frypan and Winston at the rear; Frypan was helping Winston get up as much as he could.  
  
When you finally got to the top, you extended your arm to Aris. When he took your hand, you heaved him up to the top. "So you'd help Aris and not me?" Minho joked with you. You grinned at him.  
  
"I could help drop you off the side of this cliff." you said to tease him. Regardless of making it obvious you were joking, you saw a flash of a horrified look on Minho's face.  
  
Frypan pulled Winston up to the to of the hill. "Thomas, I need another break," he said through some breaths, but it was obvious he was faking it; he was trying to get some time for Winston to rest. When you looked at Thomas, you could tell he knew, as well.  
  
"Take five minutes?" Thomas suggested. Frypan seemed conflicted over such small of a time, but he agreed.  
  
You threw off your bag and sat down on the ground. You repeated Newt's words from earlier in your head: they can't stop us.  
  
Aris sat down with you along with Newt. You realized Newt had been by your side a lot since you left the facility.  
  
"You said something about a Beth?" Newt asked. He was close to you, so of course he heard you muttering.  
  
"Yeah. Beth was a girl in our maze. She arrived and then Aris came the next day." you explained. You kept it slightly vague; you saw Aris shudder. You gave Newt this look that told him, 'I'll tell you some other time.' He seemed to take the hint that it wasn't a good idea to talk about it.  
  
With Beth and Aris arriving around the same time, they got close easily. It shook him hard when she died. It made you feel uncomfortable to think back on it, but you couldn't complain like Aris could.  
  
"So," you tried thinking of a topic to bring up so Aris could stop thinking about Beth. He was practically sulking, sitting beside you. You reached out and squeezed his hand, hoping to calm him down a bit. You realized the silence would be best for him. It was hard to see Aris so upset, but if you said anything else, you would risk the chance of breaking him.  
  
Five minutes passed very quickly. Newt stayed quiet with you, almost having a conversation with you through your eyes. You told him that Beth was dead and he apologized for yours and Aris' loss.  
  
"We need to get going. You okay, Fry?" Thomas asked, picking up his belongings. Frypan looked over at Winston before replying.  
  
"Yeah, let's go." he said. And so you were off towards the mountains of sand.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't have many notes for this one.
> 
> I assume that the next chapter will be quite long because I don't want to cut it, but I guess we'll find out;;;


	5. Chapter 5

"Those mountains, that's gotta be it. That's where we're going." Thomas pointed towards the direction he was taking you. This was the fourth day you had been walking and you were already exhausted.  
  
"It's a long way off," Newt sighed, communicating exactly what you were thinking.  
  
"So we better get going." Minho said. No one argued. You could tell everyone was just as tired as you were, but after going so far, there was no turning back now. You repositioned your bag on your shoulder. It was lighter than before from the group using up the supplies you packed.  
  
You looked over at Winston who began to walk first, but he didn't get far. Right as he took a step to go forward, he slipped and fell to the ground. You could hear him panting hard from where you stood, but you were fast to go to his side like everyone else.  
  
Thomas called his name a couple of times to see if he would respond. Nothing. Minho tried as well, but he got the same result as Thomas: nothing. "He's hurt pretty bad," Minho concluded. He didn't dare touch Winston's stomach where he was injured; none of you did.  
  
"What do we do?" Teresa asked the obvious, looking at Thomas. Thomas stood up and looked for something, anything to help Winston.  
  
You put your hands on Winston's forehead. He was running a high fever. You quickly took out a water bottle you were given and ripped off part of your shirt. Dampening it, you rested it on Winston's forehead to bring him a little bit of relief. Your stomach showing a bit was the last of your concerns.  
  
Thomas wandered off for a minute and came back with a tarp he had found. "Okay, let's make a stretcher for him. Someone help me find some kind of sticks." he ordered. Aris stood up like lightning to help. Minho then also stood up to look, going the opposite direction to look. This left you, Newt, Frypan, and Teresa with Winston.  
  
"Winston, can you hear me?" Newt tried getting his attention. Winston didn't reply but his eyes fluttered open for a split second before closing again. "It's gonna be okay."  
  
"What should we do?" Teresa asked. She used her hand to comb some of her long hair out of her face.  
  
"There's not much we can do. Keep him hydrated and rested is about it." you relied. You didn't know much about medical business, but it's not like you had any tools to stitch him up anyways.  
  
Thomas, Aris, and Minho came back with two large sticks. They looked beaten, but they'd have to do. "Let's get this tied up." said Minho. Minho took one of the sticks and tied it to one corner of the tarp. Thomas and Aris worked on the other one. From there, it looked like a poorly made, floppy toboggan, but again, it would have to do.  
  
Frypan and Newt grabbed Winston, Frypan at his torso and Newt at his legs, and dragged him to the tarp. They placed him on it as gently as they could and repositioned his legs and arms so he'd be relatively comfortable.  
  
"I'll take one end," Minho declared, picking up one of the corners of the makeshift stretcher. Frypan didn't say anything, but he took the other end.  
  
Teresa took Winston's bag and threw it over her free shoulder. You decided this was a good idea. "Hey, Minho, pass me your bag." you said, holding out your free hand. He stared at you for a minute, considering if it was a good idea, but eventually gave in. He flung it off of his shoulder and passed it to you. Aris did the same with Frypan's bag.  
  
"Hang in there, Winston," Frypan said once he was relieved from his bag.  
  
You kept walking as quick as you could. Minho's bag was admittedly heavy, but you wouldn't show too much strain; you offered to take it, so you could suffer through it.  
  
"You good?" Newt asked, following your stride.  
  
"Yeah, this is nothing," you somewhat lied. You could tell he saw right through your lie, but he didn't do anything. Some people would think he should have been a gentleman and took Minho's bag from you, but you were actually quite thankful he didn't; you'd rather a sore back later over a hurt ego now.  
  
"You're strong, huh?" he said, but you could definitely pick up some sarcasm in his voice.  
  
"Of course. The strongest. I could beat you up if I wanted." you almost lauded at yourself. Newt wasn't the strongest in the group, in fact he could almost be compared to Aris, but you definitely knew you couldn't compare to his height.  
  
"Don't hurt me!" Newt cried, throwing his hands over his face. He was mocking you. Your turn.  
  
"If you call me, 'love,' maybe I'll let you live." you jested over his accent. He didn't say anything at first. It was as if he was considering whether to go along with your joking request or not.  
  
"You need to earn the right to be called a, 'love.'" Newt finally said, scratching the back of his neck. "So far, you've packed an unnecessary camera, you've hurt Minho three times, held up the group, and ripped your shirt like a naughty girl."  
  
You looked ahead in horror. You really had been a big burden to the group. You thought so, that is, until he continued. "But most importantly, you punched me!" Newt said over dramatically, referring to when you hit him over your photograph. That was when you knew he was just joking.  
  
"Sorry, but I take the, 'hard to get game' very seriously. Plus, you earned that punch." you held a laugh to make yourself sound more serious.  
  
"So I'm going to have to try a lot harder to win you over then?" he questioned. This time, you knew he was just kidding around, but you were surprised to find part of yourself hoping he was being serious.  
  
"Maybe," you simple said, winking. You wouldn't let him have the upper hand this time. However he took it, whether he did need to try harder or not, was all up to him.  
  
To retaliate, Newt grabbed your hand for what seemed like the hundredth time. This was different, though; he entertained your fingers together. Newt didn't say anything after that. You didn't mind the quiet. In fact, you just let yourself enjoy the moment. Frypan whistled behind you two, but both of you ignored him. This was just flirting, it wasn't anything that others should have to read into.  
  
Newt didn't let go of your hand until an hour later. The wind was starting to pick up just like the get you escaped from WICKED's facility. You trudged up and down hills, but the sand flying around was starting to hurt your bare skin.  
  
"Thomas, grab his legs," Minho told Thomas. Still carrying Winston, you came upon a hill that you needed to descend from.  
  
"I got him, I got him." Thomas said, grabbing Winston's legs and lifting them up so he wouldn't touch the ground. Teresa picked up the stretcher underneath them and carried it down the slope. Aris, Minho, Frypan, and Thomas were the ones carrying Winston down the hill. You and Newt had grabbed Thomas and Aris' bag; you admittedly had the lighter of the two, but in your defence, you were still carrying Minho's bag.  
  
"Need me to take my bag back?" Minho called to you, relatively far back from you. You turned to face him, walking backwards for a few steps while you replied.  
  
"No, Minho honey, I got it." you said sweetly. He gave you a look of utter disbelief to which you laughed at while you turned to face forward.  
  
The wind kept getting stronger. Once you were on level land, everyone rushed to get Winston back in the stretcher and get him covered with whatever material you had. You did the same for yourselves, but Winston seemed like the main priority. This left each of you with a small article of clothing to cover your faces.  
  
"We've gotta find shelter!" Thomas yelled through the rising sandstorm. It was obvious you all agreed, but it was easier said than done. With all the sand in the air, it was getting harder to see, both from the sand blocking your vision and getting in your eyes.  
  
"No shit," you yelled back. You weren't mad at him; you were just tired and fed up. He knew that, too; everyone was reaching their breaking points.  
  
You were fortunate to find large pillars coming out from the sand. What they were originally was a mystery to you, but you decided to make a makeshift camp there. Everyone removed something they were wearing, be it jackets or sweaters and not anything to make this a skin party, and tied them up around the pillars to make some kind of tent. Frypan and Aris moved Winston off of the stretcher and used that to block out sand. Even your bags were placed in a way that they would block out at least a bit of sand.  
  
Of course sand got in, but it was better than being pelted by minuscule rocks directly. You all had to sit down in your small fort for it to be useful, but that also meant you had to be relatively cramped.  
  
Not surprisingly, Newt was next to you. Also not surprisingly to you, so was Minho. While Minho had his back against yours as he rested, Newt and you were sitting side by side, you resting your head on his shoulder.  
  
Teresa was combing out her hair with her hands, trying to get as much dry dirt out of it as possible. You moved your hand to your own (Hair length) hair, but in the end just gave up before you started; you were in a desert, it was just going to get worse. "I found some little hair elastics at that mall. When the storm goes down, I'll get them for you, Teresa."  
  
She smiled at you. "Thanks, (Your name)." You had barely said anything to her before then, but you knew she appreciated it. Long hair was a hassle to care for, especially now it seemed.  
  
"Can I have one, too, (Your name)?" Minho asked from behind you. You pushed a bit on his back.  
  
"For what? Your weird hair tip?" you jested. He didn't say anything, but you felt his body bob up and down as he made a huge nod. "Sure, little princess."  
  
"We should take this time to rest," Newt mumbled beside you. You took his advice and nestled yourself a bit closer to him. Newt rested his head on top of yours and presumably closed his eyes. You followed in pursuit, closing your own eyes to at least attempt to sleep through the storm.  
  
"You two an item now?" Frypan asked. He was sitting beside Winston.  
  
"I've been curious about that, too. You guys have been holding hands like no tomorrow." Teresa pitched in. Thomas stayed quiet for once.  
  
"I can't hear you, I'm trying to sleep." you hummed, not willing to answer. There was nothing official between you two, and there wasn't any way you'd start anything, but you probably wouldn't turn it away if he asked you first.  
  
Suddenly, you felt a lump of sand being poured down the neck of your shirt. You shrieked from being startled and turned to the source. Of course it was Minho. Of course he was the one being a dick. You wouldn't let him get the upper hand.  
  
"Aw, Minho, it's almost as if you're jealous." you almost cooed. Unlike what you expected, Minho just shook it off.  
  
"Maybe. It's not every day you meet someone like (Your name), right Newt?" he almost ignored you. You turned your attentions to Newt as you shook sand out of your shirt.  
  
"How would you know? You and I have both been out of the maze the same length of time, and (Your name) is the second girl we've met." Newt replied, waiting for you to settle back into place so he could use your head as a pillow again.  
  
"True. I guess I was blinded by..." Minho trailed off.  
  
"True love?" you teased, finally getting the last few grains of sand out of your shirt.  
  
"More like true pain. What I was going to say was, 'blinded by being kicked in the face.'"  
  
You let him off with that this time. Next time, he'd get another whip to the face. You wouldn't tell him that, though; he'd have to figure that out for himself.  
  
You settled back into your original position to Newt's pleasure. Eventually, you even heard small snores coming from him. Newt had lost the most sleep out of all of you, so you were glad to see him actually getting some rest.  
  
"Is he always like that?" you asked Thomas. Thomas nodded,  
  
"Yeah. He's something," was all Thomas said as he, himself got comfortable. You took that the way you wanted.  
  
The next thing you knew, Aris was taking down your little Fort and the sun was shining brightly. You must have dozed off.  
  
"Finally up?" you heard Newt ask over you. You lifted your head from his shoulder.  
  
"Yeah. Sorry," you apologized for taking up his whole arm.  
  
"It's fine, I wasn't using it."  
  
When he was free of your head, he stood up and leaned against one of the pillars, looking out at two figures. Thomas and Teresa were missing, so you figured it was just them. "How's it looking?"  
  
Aris sat down by the perpendicular pillar and gestured for you to go sit with him, you stood to do so, but first listened to Thomas' reply. "Just a little further'" he said after a moment.  
  
"That's not very convincing." Newt admitted. You agreed; his reply was less convincing than if you tried to convince Newt you and Teresa were best friends. You ignored it and instead, like he suggested, sat with Aris.  
  
"You okay, kiddo?" you asked him. You saw his face drop into a bit of annoyance. Aris wasn't a fan of being called a kid; neither were you, though.  
  
"I'm fine. You?" he asked as pleasantly as he could.  
  
"I've been better."  
  
Aris shifted in his spot to look in the direction Thomas and Teresa were. This left his back facing you. You lightly head butted his back, leaving your head there. "What's up?" Aris questioned. He didn't move you, just watched.  
  
"I'm just tired." you replied. You heard Newt chuckle from behind you.  
  
"I think we're all getting tired." Newt said, rubbing his eyes.  
  
"Getting tired?" Minho butted in. "More like, 'way tired.'"  
  
You smiled, happy to be in this group. You missed the people you were in the maze with, but you wouldn't want to be out in the scorch with anyone else other than these guys.  
  
"It's been a while since I've seen you smile like that," Aris whispered to you.  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Just smiling, genuinely happily. It's nice." he said. You could tell he was a bit embarrassed to say something like that, so you didn't push on the subject much, but you were touched to know he was watching out for that.  
  
You couldn't get comfortable, though. A sudden moan of pain took you away from your peaceful moment. Winston woke up and was shuffling around in his place.  
  
"Hey man, you okay?" Frypan finally said something, checking on Winston. Winston didn't reply. Instead, he desperately grabbed for his bag that Teresa had carried all that time. He ripped it open and blazed through the contents.  
  
"Winston, what are you doing?" you questioned him. Again, he didn't reply. Finally he found what he was looking for, but the object he pulled out made your stomach drop. You were unable to move quick enough and were forced to watch in abject horror.  
  
The gun. Winston took the gun and positioned it to his forehead. Luckily, Frypan was close enough to push the gun away from Winston's head when he pulled the trigger, making the bullet miss Winston entirely.  
  
"Hey! Guys, come down here!" Aris called for Thomas and Teresa.  
  
"Winston, what are you doing, man? Give me that!" Frypan yelled. As Thomas and Teresa ran down to your small camp, Frypan confiscated the gun and Winston scrambled on all fours to get it back.  
  
"What's going on? What are you doing, man?" Newt basically screamed.  
  
"What happened?" Teresa panted, having run from her previous spot. Frypan scratched the back of his head nervously.  
  
"I don't know, he just woke up and grabbed the gun and he tried to..." Frypan tried to explain but trailed off, not able to finish the thought.  
  
"Winston, you okay?" Thomas went to kneel beside him but was taken aback when Winston started retching. Black liquid came out of Winston's mouth. Terrified and disgusted, you had to turn your head. Newt moved to block you from the scene, something you were thankful for.  
  
Winston flopped back on the ground and turned to lie on his back. He gingerly pulled his shirt up to show everyone what was wrong. The bandages Aris had wrapped Winston's stomach with were falling off and underneath were ghastly gashes of black surrounded by purple-ish veins and blue blotches around his skin. You peeked from behind Newt and immediately regretted it.  
  
"It's growing inside me," Winston managed to say with a feeble voice. He panted and groaned in pain. "I'm not gonna make it."  
  
You wanted to tell him it would be alright, but even you couldn't make such a pointless lie. You knew just from your small peek that he was definitely not going to be okay.  
  
"Please don't let me turn into one of those... Things" Winston said, slowly and silently. Everyone stood still. Was it right to just give Winston the gun or would it be wise to keep it from him and try to get Winston help? Who would help you out in the middle of the desert?  
  
Newt suddenly moved from blocking your sight. He took the gun from Frypan and knelt down beside Winston. "Newt," Thomas went to stop him, but in the time he hesitated, Newt had already handed the gun over to Winston.  
  
"Thank you," Winston almost croaked this out. "Now get out of here." he tried urging you along with a smile. Newt stayed motionless for a moment before leaving.  
  
"Goodbye, Winston." Newt said his farewell. He stood up, picked up his bag, and walked away, his head hung low. Aris followed soon after, nodding a goodbye but probably felt he didn't deserve to say goodbye fully; you and Aris didn't know Winston like everyone else did. Minho sat beside Winston to say his own goodbye, as well as Frypan. Both of them, as well as Teresa packed up and left like the others. That left you and Thomas.  
  
You knelt down beside Winston, avoiding looking at his stomach. He eyed you down but said nothing, a reply you had gotten used to. You bent down to kiss his forehead, got up, and waked away. That was all you could do.  
  
Thomas took a bit longer than everyone else to say goodbye to his friend, but no one blamed him. Instead, you just kept walking. Keep moving forward. Do what Winston said: get out of here.  
  
You repeated Newt's words in your head: they can't stop us. He was wrong. They stopped Winston. That was WICKED's fault, right?  
  
Your thoughts were brought to a halt when you heard Winston's life break; the gunshot rang through the air and could be heard for miles around.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RIP Winston.
> 
> Unfortunately, this is not the major character death I was talking about earlier...
> 
> I hope you enjoyed. Sorry to leave it off on Winston's death.


	6. Chapter 6

The crackling of the fire was almost soothing. The flickering light in the middle of the night was hypnotic. If you hadn't had one of your new friends die earlier, this probably would have been a nice night.  
  
Aris threw in another piece of wood to keep the fire going. He was hurt over losing his new friend; so was everyone else, but some were more hurt than others.  
  
"I thought we were supposed to be immune." Minho muttered. You thought back to Ava Paige, the seemingly head scientist. When you escaped from the maze, you saw a video of her telling you the world's predicament and how you were all immune. Or so you thought.  
  
"Not all of us, I guess." Teresa replied, burying herself in her jacket. You copied her movements, trying to get as far into your jacket as you could. It was as if the deeper you were, the more likely you'd just disappear. You felt the person beside you, of course that being Newt, rub your back. You wondered how he could be so strong.  
  
"If Winston can get infected, we should assume so can the rest of us." he said beside you. He was right; maybe you were immune, but there would be more to it. Maybe you were immune only for a couple of years or so. Maybe the food WICKED was sending up in their boxes had something that helped your immune-ness. Still, it scared you to think of yourself in Winston's position. It terrified you to think of Newt in that position.  
  
"I never thought I'd say it, but..." Frypan spoke for the first time in a while, light marks of past tears were dried on his face. "I miss the Glade."  
  
"The Glade?" Aris asked. You were a bit confused, as well.  
  
"The Glade was what we called the inside area of the maze. It was our home." Newt explained. So it was the equivalent of your Field. Aris had nothing to say back. He was most likely thinking the same thing you were about the Field, but he didn't bring it up. You didn't either; it wasn't necessary right now unless they asked.  
  
For a while, no one spoke. The once lively group was left with nothing to say. You knew it would be a good idea to bring up some kind of conversation, to try and get everyone's minds away from it all, but you didn't dare start it. It wasn't in your place to try and stop them from thinking about someone they had lived with for God knew how long.  
  
You looked over at Thomas who was moping. When he saw you giving him eye contact, he knew you were looking at him for support on the matter, but it wasn't until a couple minutes later that he said anything. "You kissed Winston on the forehead, right, (Your name)?"  
  
It was not what you were expecting, but you were willing to explain. He probably was feeling like you put him on the spot. Still, you were hoping for the topic to not be related to Winston. "Back in the Field, our Glade, we had a lot of girls die." you began. You hoped your explanation would be alright despite the difference in slang words. "When they got stung by these big, scorpion like monsters we called Frights, we sent them off. Before that, each one of the leaders would kiss them on the forehead. It was a sign of respect as well as a goodbye, I guess."  
  
Thomas nodded, as well as Newt beside you. "Why, do you want me to kiss you, too?" you tried to lighten the mood with a joke. Your attempt fell flat, though.  
  
"I guess I was just curious." Thomas mumbled, then turning away from the group to get some time alone. You thought this was a good idea. You stood up from your spot, resting a hand on Newt's shoulder; half to balance yourself, half to make sure he wouldn't get yo with you. You picked up your bag and walked a bit away from the group.  
  
When you stopped, you were beside a rock formation. Whether it was just a rock or part of a building, you didn't know. You could still see the fire and the group; you weren't that far away, but you were far enough away that if you spoke to yourself, they wouldn't hear you.  
  
You leaned your back on the rock, sliding down it until you hit the ground. You looked up at the sky. There were no stars to look up at, just a dark sky. You sighed; it's not like you were expecting any stars, it just would have been a nice change.  
  
You unzipped your bag and pulled out the old camera. You let your finger slide across the different buttons and outer plastic casing. By now, the camera was a bit beat up from being tossed around, but when you clicked the button, you proved it to still be working.  
  
"What are you thinking?" you heard Newt ask above you. He didn't wait for your reply to sit down beside you like before. Of course he'd eventually follow you; you felt like Newt looked to you for a lot of things, one of the main things being comfort.  
  
"I kind of just wish I got a picture of Winston before..." your voice trailed off. You didn't want to say it. Instead, you just continued. "It would have been a nice memento, I guess."  
  
Newt took this in for a moment. He was probably thinking about what Winston looked like before he was infected; what he looked like in the Glade. You only saw his uninfected face in dark places, so you didn't know every detail. Newt probably did know, though.  
  
"The best thing we can do for him now is remember him." he simply noted. Judging by the tone of his voice, even though he indirectly brought it up, Newt didn't want to touch on the subject anymore.  
  
You let the camera rest in your lap, still fiddling with the buttons. Newt soon rested his head on your shoulder, something you usually did to him. You didn't mind it; it was calming for both you and him.  
  
"You know, if you keep being this touchy-feely with me, I'll have to assume you're smitten with me." you teased. You felt him laugh.  
  
"Assume? And I thought I was making it obvious," Newt said in a joking yet sombre tone.  
  
"Oh, so obvious. My heart is aflutter." you stifled a laugh. While the air still felt heavy, this felt nice, having fun.  
  
"I wouldn't mind, you know." Newt finally said. You had no idea what he was referring to.  
  
"Wouldn't mind what?" you had to ask.  
  
"I wouldn't mind if you kissed my forehead." he almost whispered. Was he shy or just teasing you?  
  
"Sorry, but you have to be dead or dying to get that, buddy." you playfully pushed his shoulder, hoping to brush it off. Depending on his reaction, you'd choose your actions carefully.  
  
You were surprised to see him almost sulk. Did he really want you to kiss him that badly? You thought of a small plan and went for it; there was no going back now. Putting your camera down, you placed a small kiss on his forehead. When he smiled at you, that's when you started your mischief. You tackled him to the ground, pinned him down, grabbed your bag, and dropped it on his face. He struggled for a bit but then went limp under you.  
  
"Haha, very funny." he tried saying. His speech was muffled from your bag.  
  
"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you over your deadness." you teased. You moved the bag away from his face, but stayed on top of him, keeping him pinned to the ground.  
  
You stared deep into his eyes, him doing the same for you. This was the most human experience you had ever had; just you and him, no other concerns. It felt almost wrong to be acting this way after Winston's death, but part of you said Winston wouldn't have wanted you to mourn anyways.  
  
After some shuffling with you getting off of him, Newt stood up and held his hand out to help you. You took it, but when you were finally up, he didn't let go of your hand. When you stared down to look at your hands, you were greeted by a soft kiss on your forehead, so light that if you weren't paying attention, you could have mistaken it for the wind. You stared at him, somewhat startled.  
  
"Now you've gotten the kiss of death," he whispered. You almost didn't hear him. He suddenly grabbed you and hoisted you over his shoulder. You almost screamed as he jostled you around. "Beg for mercy and I might let you go!" he said.  
  
"Newt, come on!" you yelled, almost kicking him to get out of his grip. The others at the fire must have heard you by now, but that didn't matter right now. "I give, I give! Have mercy on me, oh great one!" you pleaded.  
  
Almost immediately after you begged, he stopped throwing you around and let you back down on your feet. You sighed with relief, holding in your urge to pounce on Newt and give him payback.  
  
"Come on, let's go back. It's late." Newt said the dreaded words. You didn't want this to end, not now. He was right, though. It was getting late and even if you were mourning, Thomas would want everyone up early to keep walking towards the mountains.  
  
You picked up your camera, stuffing it back in your bag. Newt waited patiently for you to finish before walking back to the camp. There, everyone was already lying down, ready to sleep. It appears your screaming might have kept them up.  
  
"You done flirting, shank?" you heard Minho whisper to Newt. Newt lightly tapped Minho's head with his foot before settling down on the ground to sleep for himself. You found a nice spot between Aris and Thomas and lied down, lying your head on one of Aris' legs. He didn't seem to mind, and shifted his weight to better accommodate to you.  
  
You pulled out the almost forgotten photograph of you and Newt from your pocket and stared at it, the picture being illuminated from the fire. At that time, you were happy, too. You held the photo close to your chest before placing it back in your pocket, hoping some of the happiness would rub off on your dreams for the night.  
  
When you awoke, it was just as you expected; Thomas had you up and walking. You walked beside Newt and Minho, alternating every few hours. When you set up some kind of camp for the night, you goofed off with Newt and then sleep on one of Aris' limbs. This routine lasted for another three days.  
  
You already had limited food and water, everyone getting small rations, prior but this was the day where you ran out of everything.  It was already hard enough to feed seven people for one week with a couple granola bars you found and some canned food Frypan found. Frypan and Newt were smart to pack bottles upon bottles of water, but even that would be drunk up. You had been deprived of food for two days now and the only reason you were functioning was because you weren't completely dehydrated.  
  
Minho uncapped his bottle to drink, but when he found it empty, he chucked the tin bottle as far as he could into the further desert. "Nine points." you joked, trying to keep some kind of positive mood.  
  
"What happened to the one missing point?" Minho questioned. You fished through your bag until you found your own water bottle. There was one sip left and you were saving it for later, but with Minho always trying to protect you, you felt like you owed him. Also, you kicked him in the face which he still hadn't let you get over.  
  
"Well it was a good throw and all, but I would have been even more impressed if it blew up." you pointed out, handing him your bottle. He hesitated to take it, but thirst won and he took your last drops of water.  
  
"I'll remember that for next time." he mumbled, drinking all you had. That was it. You would all have to go hungry and be thirsty for the night. He thanked you, and you were happy to do good, but it was just a heavy thought to know you had so much longer to go.  
  
You kept thinking about this throughout the day. Hunger wasn't something that was easily ignored. Everyone was already weak from lack of sleep; lack of nutrition was just adding to your misfortunes.  
  
And when night came, you found yourself more weak than you had in a long time. More so than you thought could be possible. Even in the maze when you were tired and sore from running all day, having skipped meals and breaks, you had never felt so run down. It was to be expected.  
  
Too tired to even make a camp, everyone eventually collapsed onto the ground and curled up, trying to stay warm in a huddle. You hugged your knees to your chest but tried desperately to keep yourself awake, feeling as if you may die if you let yourself sleep. But you weren't strong enough. You eventually succumbed to sleep. You were fortunate to live, but there was no telling how much longer you had.  
  
Not even an hour later, you were woken up by someone shaking you. You immediately coughed, your dry throat almost unbearable. At this moment, you almost wished you had died. It was Newt who woke you up, but you could hear Thomas chattering; if Newt hadn't have shook you, you probably would have woken up because of Thomas anyways.  
  
"See that? It's lights." Thomas said, not hiding any enthusiasm in his voice. You looked out into the distance while you stood up. There were in fact lights, it was no illusion. It wasn't the mountains, but it meant civilization; maybe some food, or better yet right now, water. You stood up as quickly as you could to get a better look, slightly stumbling. You weren't the only one who had trouble; Teresa tried to get up only to fail and have to have Thomas help her up.  
  
You didn't have time to rejoice. All of a sudden, you felt a vibration in the ground and heard a muffled crackle above you. You looked up at the sky. It was nothing but dark, black clouds.  
  
"That's lightning." Aris concluded. No one argued with that and when everyone turned to face him, you all saw a strike of lightning hitting the ground a couple miles away.  
  
"Come on, let's go." Thomas ordered, quickly grabbing his bag. You all followed in our sit, not willing to be electrocuted. "Let's go!" he wailed once more before running.  
  
Despite being exhausted, you carried on. It was as if energy was zapped in you, no pun intended. Today was not going to be the day you were struck by lightning. Maybe tomorrow, but only if the lightning asked you out first; you were classy.  
  
Thomas, Teresa, and Minho kept yelling at the group, trying to motivate you to continue running. You saw Aris struggling every once in a while, but you had no time to ask if he was alright; lightning was crashing above you. It was as if it was getting closer.  
  
"Come on, (Your name), you're running slower than a snail!" Newt yelled, trying to keep up with you. You almost laughed.  
  
"Yeah? You're one to talk, limp boy!" you hollered back, trying to pick up your pace nonetheless. Your joking tone didn't stick with you, though, as lightning kept showering from the sky.  
  
Everyone was getting closer to the lights—now getting closer, you could actually see it was a large building—but while you got closer, you noticed there were discarded cars all around the area. You were in a conducting field.  
  
"Oh shit, we're going to die." you muttered to yourself, ducking when you heard the crackling in the sky like it was right above you. That's when you heard a large crack and Thomas calling out for Minho. You took one look back to see Minho and Thomas, the previous on the ground and visibly smoking.  
  
You along with Newt and Aris ran back to help them. Newt and Aris pulled Minho and dragged him along while you helped Thomas up and had him run on his own.  
  
"I jinxed it, I fucking killed him!" you were internally screaming. Of course when you say something, the world decides to make everything go against you. You killed Minho.  
  
Frypan and Teresa made it to the large building first, throwing the door open and cheering for you to get in as well. You let Newt and Aris in first along with an unconscious Minho, then Thomas, and then you scurried in. Frypan followed and you all dropped to the ground to see if Minho was really dead.  
  
"Minho!" Thomas called for him, slightly shaking him. Frypan took out a flashlight and shone it on Minho, the room dark otherwise. You didn't say anything, and instead just loomed over hoping he was okay; you killed him otherwise.  
  
"Come on, Minho." Newt pleaded. Thomas called for Minho again and Frypan repeated what Newt had said. Nothing. Minho remained still. You hid your face in your hands. There goes another one, a good guy.  
  
And then you heard a groan. You instantly dropped your hands and sighed in relief, feeling as if you could cry.  
  
"What happened?" he slowly asked, looking at his hands.  
  
"I think you were struck by lightning." Thomas explained.  
  
Minho let his hands drop on his stomach and simply let out an, "Oh." The boys let out a weak laugh over his reaction and helped him up.  
  
"Man, I thought I killed you." you said, lightly hitting Minho's chest. When he winced, you told yourself to one, be gentle with him, and two, check him for burns. You used your hands to ask if it was alright to touch him. Once he gave you the okay, you lightly grabbed his shirt and peered down the neck hole. From the limited light, it looked like he would be fine. He was burned, but he would live.  
  
"Hey," Teresa got your attention. You let Minho's shirt fall back in place to listen. "Something smells." she almost whispered. You took another whiff of the area. You hadn't noticed it before, but she was right; it didn't smell like roses now. In fact, it smelled like the shopping mall.  
  
Suddenly, something lunged at Teresa, causing her to jerk backwards and fall onto Thomas. It was a crank, explaining the smell.  
  
"Behind you!" Teresa shrieked, referring to Thomas. The flashlight whipped over to see what was bend Thomas. More cranks. There were cranks everywhere.  
  
"I see you’ve met our guard dogs."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a bit of a confession: I wasn't able to work on this that much today, nor the next chapter. My basement was actually flooded, so I got a bit distracted from writing. I'll try to get the next chapter out soon, though.
> 
> My writing time is kind of exclusive to my bus riding time as I bus one hour away to get to school, one hour from that to get to co-op, and then two hours back to get home. You'd think with that time, I would have gotten this chapter done earlier... So did I, haha...
> 
> (Also, just something I noticed. AO3 was saying I uploaded chapter five on the fifth of October, which is weird because I uploaded it on the sixth... Oh well.)
> 
> I hope you enjoyed!


	7. Chapter 7

The lights turned on instantly after the unknown voice was heard. Everyone in the group huddled together to protect each other from the cranks and the stranger. "Stay back, stay back!" Thomas shoulder as the person got closer. It was a women, maybe even someone around your age, but she was still an unknown threat.  
  
She ignored Thomas' demands and continued towards you. In your huddle, you felt Newt maneuver his way in front of you, blocking you from any harm she could do. When she stopped moving, she stared all of you up and down. "You guys look like shit." she noted. While she was right, you felt it was rude to say so; you didn't need a reminder. "Come on, follow me."  
  
The girl started walking away, retracing her steps through the cranks. When no one proceeded to follow her, she turned around and said, "Unless you want to stay here with them."  
  
Everyone looked at each other and then at the cranks. Finally, Thomas moved, causing a chain of events of everyone going to follow this unknown girl as well. Newt grabbed your wrist. "Stay behind me," he said, not loud enough for people in the front like the girl and Thomas to hear. Minho leaned in to say his part as well.  
  
"We'll protect you." he chirped as if Newt was referring to the both of them.  
  
You fought the urge to tell them you didn't need protecting, and instead just nodded. Newt reached out for your hand and you took it without hesitation; by now, this was a natural action between you two.  
  
The girl lead you into some kind of workshop. There were people bustling around doing God knows what. "Wow," Frypan muttered, completely impressed. You'd be lying if you weren't surprised; the building looked so run down but on the inside, it was sturdy and sound.  
  
"Come on, keep up." the girl ordered you, still leading you through the unknown place. "Jorge wants to meet you."  
  
"Who's Jorge?" Thomas questioned for all of you. She looked at Thomas over her shoulder before replying.  
  
"You'll see." she left at that. You internally sighed; the mysterious save-it-for-later attitude was old to you. "No one's come out of the scorch in a long time. You've just got him curious." the girl said. "And me, too." she then added. Teresa, in return, gave a look to Thomas. You couldn't see it from where you were, but you assumed it was look of jealous rage or something similar.  
  
Thomas pulled back from the girl to speak to all of you. "Why am I starting to get a bad feeling about this place?" Newt asked only loud enough for your group to hear. Thomas shrugged his shoulders.  
  
"Let's just hear them out; see what he has to say," Thomas suggested. No one argued.  
  
"Think they have some kind of food here?" Frypan asked only you. You let that sink in; that would be nice, but these people didn't seem like the friendly type. Would they share food with you if they even had it?  
  
"Fry, you and I wish," you replied regardless.  
  
The girl brought you to a closed room, some stragglers having followed you in the process. Minho moved behind you to make sure you were between both him and Newt, not between them and strangers. You almost felt like you had two bodyguards.  
  
One man sat at a desk, frantically fiddling with some kind of radio. "Jorge, they're here." the girl announced, making sure he realized you had entered. The man, presumably Jorge, continued to work on his radio until you heard static coming from it.  
  
He stood up, giving up on whatever he was doing and faced all of you. "Do you ever get the feeling like the whole world's against you?" he asked you, but he already knew the answer. Everyone, no matter who you were, must have felt like that at some point in their life. Hell, you felt like that right now. "Three questions," he began to list different questions as he poured himself a glass of water. "Where did you come from? Where are you going? How can I profit?"  
  
No one answered. You were too focused on the water. It seemed to be the same for everyone else. "Don't all answer at once." Jorge said with annoyance in his voice. Thomas cleared his throat, still looking at the water, but he decided to answer for you.  
  
"We're headed to the mountains. We're looking for the Right Arm." Thomas said, trying to keep as much to himself as he could. The room reverberated in small chuckles.  
  
"You're looking for ghosts, you mean." Jorge informed you. The Right Arm kidnapped Harriet and Sonya, you had to remind yourself, but these people must have been living here for a long time. They'd probably know better, right? Your thoughts were interrupted. "Question number two: where did you come from?"  
  
Minho stepped forward before Thomas could reply. "That's our business."  
  
They didn't seem to like that answer. A bunch of the stragglers who followed you grabbed at the boys. Only one person grabbed at you and Teresa, but you knew better to struggle; you were teenagers and they were adults, not to mention there was way more of them than there were you. Thomas didn't seem to get that.  
  
"Hey, get the hell off me!" he screamed when people grabbed at him. The girl who's name you still didn't know grabbed some kind of handheld machine and walked over to Thomas.  
  
"Shut up, you big baby." she purred, using the machine to touch the back of Thomas' neck.  
  
"What is that?" Thomas questioned. It was exactly what you were wondering. The best thing you could compare it to would be some kind of scanner in a store.  
  
The girl looked at the machine for a couple of seconds before saying anything. When she came to her conclusion, she looked at Jorge with a dumbfounded look. "You were right."  
  
"Right about what? What's she talking about?" Thomas demanded an answer. He shook off the girl, but was still being held by goods around you.   
  
Jorge laughed to himself. "I'm sorry, hermano. Looks like you're tagged." he said. Tagged?  
  
You took your free hand and touched the back of your neck. You felt nothing. Upon realizing you even had a free hand, one of the people from the building grabbed your hand and separated you from your previous holder. He then forced your hands behind your back and held you there like before. Newt gave a menacing look to the man, but did nothing in return to prevent any further tension.  
  
"You came from WICKED," Jorge continued to talk. "Which means you're very valuable." As if on cue, the whole pack of grunts quietly cheered or laughed. "Brenda, bring them to the drop zone." Jorge ordered.  
  
"You got it." the girl responded. That meant she was Brenda. She made some kind of hand gesture that rounded up the grunts, making them force you to move with them. Newt was being pushed towards whatever this drop zone farther away from you, but he kept turning his head to check on you.  
  
When you arrived at the drop zone, you learned it wasn't like a thrill ride from an amusement park like what it sounded like. Instead, it was a large hole in the middle of the ground. It went down what seemed like twenty floors. Over the hole was some kind of crane.  
  
The goons forced you down, tied up your legs, and tied you to a contraption that connected to the crane. Despite Thomas and Minho's yelling as well as each and every one of your attempts to free yourself, you were strung up by your feet and forced to dangle over the large drop.  
  
"Great plan, Thomas. Let's hear what the man has to say. Really working out for us." Minho sighed. Thomas just dangled there, not even trying to hit him in return.  
  
"Oh shut up, Minho." he said, defeatedly. You twirled in your place, still from dangling. You currently had a nice view of Frypan who was trying to relax as much as he could, conserving energy. "Maybe I can reach the rope," Thomas broke the silence. He swung his weight around a bit until he was able to throw himself up to his feet, trying to untie the rope as quickly as possible. Minho and Newt tried doing the same.  
  
"Thomas, you realize if you untie the rope where you are, you'll fall to your doom." you calmly said, refusing to copy the boys. All three of them immediately stopped, a look of horror plastered on their faces. You would have laughed at them if you weren't so dizzy from the blood rushing to your head.  
  
"Enjoying the view?" Jorge said, coming into view. No one was happy to see him; that was for sure.  
  
"The hell do you want?" Thomas spotted. His anger was justifiable.  
  
"That is the question." Jorge chuckled. You spun around in your place, your feet getting sore. "My men want to sell you back to WICKED. Life is taught to be something small." Jorge messed with the sleeves of his jacket. This reminded you about your own clothing. Considering you were upside down, you checked to make sure your shirt was not flopping down; no matter how you acted, you were still a lady and you didn't want to be too exposed. It wasn't. "I'm not like that. Something tells me that you're not, either." he finished his thought.  
  
"Is the blood rushing to my head or is this shank not making any sense?" Minho asked the group.  
  
"A bit of both, I think." you mumbled to him, only guessing what, 'shank,' meant. If you were right, it just meant an idiot. You could get more descriptive, but you wouldn't.  
  
"Tell me what you know about the Right Arm." Jorge demanded, as you spun, you saw Newt giving Jorge a confused look.  
  
"I thought you said they were ghosts." he said. It came out more sassy than confused, but this was probably just to get the upper hand in the conversation.  
  
"I happen to believe in ghosts. Especially when I hear them chattering among the airways." Jorge said, walking towards some kind of lever. "You tell me what you know and maybe we can make a deal."  
  
For a split second, you saw Teresa shaking her head, 'no,' at Thomas. "We don't know much," Thomas said, keeping things vague for her sake. He technically wasn't lying, you really didn't know all that much about the Right Arm.  
  
Jorge didn't take this too well. He pushed on the lever causing the mechanism you were tied to to jerk down until he pulled the lever back. Feeling yourself fall, your heart almost stopped. You shot your hands to you chest to steady yourself. Newt raised an arm to reach you you but he could not reach far enough.  
  
"Okay, okay!" Thomas freaked out, breaking down. "They're hiding in the mountains. They attacked WICKED; they got out a bunch of kids. That's it, that's all we know." he explained. You weren't mad at Thomas for revealing what you knew; you were just glad that you weren't falling anymore.  
  
"Yo, Jorge. What's going on?" a large man with a leather jacket walked in from the shadows. Jorge looked like he was going to say something to Thomas, but ultimately gave up upon this guy's entrance.  
  
"Me and my new friends were just getting acquainted. We're done now." Jorge said, walking away from the lever. Thomas started waving his hands to get Jorge's attention.  
  
"Hey wait. What... You're not gonna help us?" he asked, gesturing towards his feet. Jorge just laughed while he walked further into the building.  
  
"Don't worry, hermano. We'll get you back to where you belong." he said, waving his hand behind him. He gave a nod to the large man before disappearing in darkness. "Hang tight."  
  
"Oh, haha, very funny!" you called after him, sarcasm filling your voice, "Why don't you come hang with us and let me kick your ass?"  
  
"Calm down, (Your name)." Aris said to you, relatively staying quiet. You obliged, but the thought remained.  
  
The large man in the leather jacket eyed you down before leaving as well. This left you and your friends suspended in air, alone in the dark.


	8. Chapter 8

"I got you... Minho, you ready?" Thomas quietly called to Minho, holding Teresa by her shoulders.  
  
"Yeah." he replied, arms out and ready to catch her. Thomas wiggled a bit in the air to create some kind of force and pushed Teresa towards Minho. "Gotcha!" he exclaimed when she was successfully in Minho's grasp. You watched them, comparing Teresa to a Newton's cradle or a pendulum from an old clock. "Okay, on three. Here we go."  
  
"Ready?" she asked, bracing herself.  
  
"Three!" Minho ignored, as well as skipped one and two. He pushed Teresa towards the platform with the lever that controlled the mechanism you were tied to. She swung, but not enough, and her outstretched arms missed the bar. Everyone sighed along with an, 'oh no, from Minho and a, 'shit' from Newt.  
  
This was the fourth time you had tried this. 'Third time's the charm' had already failed. Thomas, Minho, and Teresa were determined to get Teresa to the lever so she could ultimately untie herself, but now you weren't so sure. At first, you were all in for the plan, but after so much time, you got weary.  
  
Your legs were numb from lack of enough blood. You were starting to get sick to your stomach as well, enough for Newt to realize you weren't looking so good and ask you about your condition. You replied saying you were fine, but both of you knew if you didn't get right side up soon, you would be paying for it somehow. Could you die from hanging upside down for too long? You weren't sure.  
  
"One more time." Thomas said, grabbing Teresa as she swayed back to Thomas due to gravity. Minho sighed and opened his arms to catch her again. They repeated their actions from before: catch Teresa, throw her towards the lever, hope she catches the bar. She didn't.  
  
"Come on, Minho. Push her harder." Newt almost demanded. He was too far away to help, but that didn't mean he couldn't coach on the sidelines. Minho muttered a curse word as Teresa was pushed towards him again.  
  
"Attempt number six." Aris whispered to himself, obviously keeping count like you were.  
  
You finally had enough of being a sitting duck. You swayed yourself until you could reach Minho. You grabbed his shoulders, to his surprise, and the momentum of you going backwards was enough to pull him back to give him more force. "This is it." Newt muttered, obviously agreeing with your idea.  
  
Minho counted out loud to three, this time not skipping the first two numbers. When he reached one, you let go. Once he seemed to reach the end of his forward swaying, he then pushed Teresa. You got ready to try again, starting to sway.  
  
But it worked. "Yes!" Thomas said, feeling accomplished. You inwardly fist pumped and forcefully tuned yourself to give Newt an upside down high five... Only to once again realize you were too far, causing you to just flail around in place.  
  
"Okay, Teresa, hurry." Thomas demanded. She was quick to respond with movement. She pulled herself a bit closer and grabbed the lever, instantly pulling it down. You expected it this time; the lever caused the mechanism you were tied to to jerk downwards. She released the lever as quick as she could, just giving her enough slack from the rope to pull herself on the platform and untie her legs.  
  
When she untied herself, the face of relief she had made you temporarily jealous. You knew you would get that relief soon, too, but you knew you wouldn't be the first person saved. Teresa found some kind of metal pole and stretched it out to Thomas.  
  
Thomas grabbed the pole, pulled himself in, and was untied. Teresa then moved to you, probably because you were a girl, while Thomas grabbed another pole to help everyone else. Suddenly though, he stopped. "You hear that?" he asked Teresa as you untied your legs, feeling circulation run through them again.  
  
You perked your ears to listen. It was the same sound that you had heard how many days ago in the desert: the sound of a helicopter. You froze. They were here.  
  
"Good evening." you heard a loud voice coming from some kind of transmission. "This is the World Catastrophe Killzone Department. We have your compound completely surrounded. Even if you value yourselves, we don’t want your own with possession of WICKED property. Return them to us unharmed and we’ll consider this a simple misunderstanding." said Mr. Janson's voice.  
  
That's when your feet started moving again. You raced to find a pole of your own to help the others. When you found one, Aris was the person you helped. Meanwhile, Thomas helped Minho and Teresa helped Newt.  
  
"Every last one of you will die. It won’t be long until the Flare wipes out the rest of us. The hope of a cure lies in your hands. The choice is yours." Janson's kept broadcasting his WICKED bullshit.  
  
You got Aris back on the platform and while he untied himself, you moved to get Frypan. When you stretched out your pole, Thomas' pole also came into view. You then both pulled him in together and helped untie the rope around his legs.  
  
"Alright, let's go. Let's go!" Thomas announced, everyone ready to leave. You jogged in place for a split second to test out your legs. They were sore, and you felt pins and needles from them previously being numb, but you would be fine.  
  
Newt came up to you and positioned himself in front of you. You were confused as to why, but your question was answered quickly. The large man with the leather jacket from earlier was standing in front of Thomas, a gun in his hand. You staggered backwards.  
  
"We're not trying to cause any trouble, we just... We gotta get out of here." Thomas said, holding his arm out protectively in front of Teresa. The large man laughed.  
  
"Is that so?" he almost jested before pulling out some kind of walkie-talkie. "Janson, I got them for ya. I’m bringing them down. Don’t shoot us." he said to the person on the other end, that being Janson. He then nudged his gun towards Thomas. "Come on, let’s go." No one moved. Instead, everyone stood their ground. "I said let’s go." the man demanded again.  
  
All of a sudden, with a quick movement, Thomas pushed the gun towards the ceiling. The man shot, but with the gun pointed away, it hit no one. But even as you tried to take to opportunity to escape, it was pointless. The man recovered much more quickly than you anticipated.  
  
"You little bastard." the man growled, positioning his gun to shoot Thomas. And that's when it happened; the shot. The ear destroying sound, the backwards movements of Thomas, and the inevitability of him falling to the ground. But it wasn't Thomas who fell to the ground, it was the large man.  
  
Behind him stood Brenda, holding her own gun which was pointed at the large man. "Okay, come on." she gestured you to follow. When you all hesitated, she insisted you to follow her again. You turned to look at Aris before following her.  
  
Soon after, you heard old music begin to play. It wasn't coming from the room you were currently in, and instead, was coming from above you; a PA system was playing it. You were greeted by Jorge who immediately ordered you to follow him.  
  
"Brenda, hurry. We don't have much time. Let's go," he repeated the last two words several a time, leading you to a large window. "Right this way." Jorge said, opening the window, revealing a zip line that led to some kind of rock formation. You stared in awe.  
  
"Oh, you gotta be kidding me." Frypan mumbled, looking down from the window. It was a long drop down.  
  
"Plan B, hermano. You kids want to get to the Right Arm? I'll lead you to them, but you gotta owe me." Jorge stated. He grabbed one of the zip line's handles and jumped out of the window, yelling, "Follow me!"  
  
"Alright, let's go. Come on!" Brenda said, pulling a few more handles for the rest of you.  
  
"Go, go, go. Everyone, go!" Thomas seemed to agree with the plan, pushing people towards the zip line handles.  
  
Minho was the first to oblige, pulling one of the handles and grunting as he launched himself off of the building. Newt went next, but not before telling you to go right after him. After promising and urging him away, you grabbed one of the handles. "You guys be careful," you gave them an empty order, pushing yourself off the building and into the air.  
  
As you flew down, you looked below you. You wondered if it would be a good idea to just let go and fall you your death; WICKED couldn't follow you that way. They planned for you to be strung up and drained, not die at the bottom of a ditch.  
  
This thought hadn't gone through as you quickly reached the end of the line. Newt outstretched his arms and helped you onto the ground. "Are you alright?" he asked, checking you over. You nodded, but nothing came out of your mouth; you were too wrapped up in your thoughts. He didn't press on the matter.  
  
Soon, Frypan, Aris, and Teresa came. You expected Thomas and then Brenda to follow, but after a few minutes, they didn't. Jorge paced nervously. You wondered if you should be leaving; WICKED must have seen you leave the building on that zip line. The only reason you stayed was to wait for Thomas.  
  
"Thomas..." you whispered his name. He was basically the leader of your little pack, as well as got you all to the point you were at. What was keeping him back?  
  
The song playing inside the building ended, but not with some notes that faded away, with an explosion. Minho covered you from the sound and potential rubble that would go flying. "What the fuck?" you almost screamed, looking at the building.  
  
Teresa's mouth was gaping as she stared at the, now falling apart, building. You couldn't believe your eyes either, watching it crumble to the ground. Thomas didn't come zip lining down. Neither did Brenda.  
  
Jorge kicked the nearby rocks and started moving. "We need to go. Hurry." he demanded, moving into a nearby, hidden cave.  
  
"Wait, we can't leave Thomas, or your Brenda." Newt said. Jorge looked conflicted, but eventually chose to continue with his plan.  
  
"Brenda's smart. If she made it out, your friend will be with her, and they'll meet us there. Let's go." he said before vanishing. Everyone looked at each other and then followed. Newt had to force Teresa to go with you, her still in shock.  
  
As you quickly followed Jorge, you looked back at Newt and Teresa. He was consoling her, rubbing her back and whispering words of encouragement to her. You felt something inside you turn bitter, but you had no idea why; there was a big possibility Thomas hadn't made it out and Newt was comforting Teresa. That was it. It's not like he was flirting with her, and even if he was, there was no reason you had to be angry over that. She was a pretty girl. You and Newt weren't dating; he wasn't cheating on you.  
  
You shook your head. This wasn't the time for that. You were fighting for your life right now; jealousy could wait, forever if it wanted.  
  
"Mr. Jorge, where are you taking us?" you asked him. He didn't reply. Minho gave you a sympathetic look before walking between you and Jorge. You looked back at Newt once more. He was still with Teresa.  
  
This was going to be a long escape. Or so you thought. Jorge led you into a crevice of the cave and sealed off the entrance with large rocks, only leaving a hole for air.  
  
"We're far enough." Jorge said, throwing off his bag. You didn't have a bag anymore; Jorge's guys took all of your things, your camera included. Jorge fiddled with his belongings and threw all of you something: a chocolate bar. "A treat." he said, sitting down to eat his own.  
  
Minho and Frypan quickly sat down to eat their candy. Newt and Aris followed, but much less eagerly. Teresa moved away from the crowd to sit by herself. You stared down at your own. "You still have chocolate?" you asked, reading the wrapper. It was expired. You cautiously peeled the wrapper.  
  
"There's not much out there anymore. Had to pack light." Jorge explained. When he took a bite out of his chocolate bar, you deemed it relatively safe and took a bite out of yours. You didn't know if it was because it simply was good, being the first sweet you had in ages, or because you were hungry, but something about the chocolate was heavenly.  
  
Jorge soon pulled out a couple of bottles of water as well, to which you all helped yourself to. You were all still hungry, but with at least one thing in your stomach and your thirst being quenched, you would survive. He was definitely redeemed for tying you up in your books.  
  
"So what's your plan?" Aris asked Jorge. Jorge was setting up a fire for the night.  
  
"We find a man named Marcus. He used to smuggle kids across the country to the Right Arm." he said. A spark was lit and a fire soon was started. You felt the warmth crawl over your skin, making you sigh in relief. "Why don't you tell me your names?" he then asked. It only then occurred to you; you all knew who Jorge and Brenda were because of their conversations. All he knew about you was that you were from WICKED.  
  
"I'm (Your name)," you introduced yourself. "That's Minho, Aris, and Frypan." you then started to introduce your friends, pointing to each as you went.  
  
"Siggy." Frypan corrected you. You stared at him, almost dumbfounded.  
  
"Then why have I been calling you 'Frypan?'" you asked him, expecting an answer before you continued the introductions  
  
"I was a cook in the maze. It became a nickname." he answered, taking a swig of water. You shrugged.  
  
"Anyways, that's Newt and Teresa." you finally finished. Newt was over with Teresa again. You felt it again; jealousy for no reason. "Oh, and the other guy was Thomas."  
  
"What's gonna happen to Thomas and Brenda?" Minho questioned, fiddling with his fingers. You lowered your head, worried for them.  
  
"I'm sure Brenda made it out. We can expect to find them later." Jorge stated, lying down by the fire. He seemed to be ready to get some sleep for the night.  
  
"And you expect us to just wait around?" Teresa finally spoke, standing from her place. She looked like a wreck. "We're supposed to just hope they're alive and keep going?"  
  
"Nothing else we can do, hermana." Jorge replied, turning to his other side to face away from her. Teresa went to say something, but ultimately just moved farther from the group and lied down by herself. Newt followed her.  
  
Minho, Aris, and Frypan—you refused to call him Siggy or whatever it was— also found a place to rest. You were tired, but you weren't going to rest with Aris tonight. You moved away from the group as well, but the opposite way than Teresa. You just sat down in front of the crevice entrance, looking at the small opening from which you came.  
  
You pulled the picture of you and Newt out of your pocket. It was the only possession you had left. You started wondering why you were getting jealous over Newt. It's not like you two were an item. You two didn't even like each other that much, right? You had only known each other for a week or so. You traced Newt's face in the photograph with your finger.  
  
"You miss me, love?" you heard behind you. Hands covered your eyes, but you weren't afraid.  
  
"I thought you were hooking up with Teresa?" you questioned. It was Newt, you already knew that. He uncovered your eyes and sat beside you.  
  
"I called you, 'love,' and that's how you thank me?" he asked, faking a hurt voice. You nudged him with your elbow, slipping the photo back into your pocket.  
  
"You're not worried?" you asked, ignoring his comment. He opened his mouth to speak, but then shut it and thought over his response more.  
  
"I believe he made it out." he finally said. As usual. It wasn't the answer you wanted to hear. Whether he believed it or not, that didn't answer your question.  
  
"They can't stop us." you mumbled. "And yet they came a long way to find us."  
  
"You still remember that?" Newt almost chuckled. You glared at him. Those were his words; he wasn't allowed to laugh at them. He was silenced by your glare, but it didn't discourage him from talking to you. "You alright?"  
  
"I'm fine." you lied. He saw through it.  
  
"You jealous?" he pried.  
  
"Of what? You?" you deflected the question. He saw through that, too.  
  
"I'll take that as a yes." he said. You sighed.  
  
"Whatever helps you sleep at night."  
  
You stood up to get away from him and to rejoin everyone and sleep by the fire. You weren't running away, per say, you were just getting cold. Newt stood up as well and grabbed your hand to stop you. You spun to face him. "What?"  
  
Newt said nothing. Instead, he leaned in and did the unexpected. You felt a short, light kiss being left on your lips. It wasn't long enough for you to enjoy it; in fact, it wasn't long enough for you to even process it.  
  
Newt smiled and let go of your hand, beginning to walk back to the fire without you. "I saw that picture and how you were staring at me longingly." he jested.  
  
You shook your head to get back in the moment. Flustered, you pushed him so he would get to the fire quicker. He laughed, allowing you to do so.  
  
You didn't speak to him for the rest of that night; you didn't even say goodnight. Instead, when you lied down to sleep, your mind filled itself with different thoughts. What did that kiss mean? Was he joking? Was Newt secretly a player? What was that feeling in your gut that made your whole body feel numb for a split second?  
  
Things wouldn't be the same between you two, and you didn't know if that was good or bad.


	9. Chapter 9

You woke up feeling like your arms were freezing. You rubbed them gently, only light fabric from your shirt covering them in the first place. You cracked your eyes open, letting minimal light meet them. You were sleeping in some sort of cave and while you could see the exit, it was far off. The fire was out and people were sitting up. You slept in for the first time in ages.

“Morning, sunshine.” Minho jested as he saw you stir. You looked at him, telling him that he needed to shut up with your eyes. It was too early for this.

You slowly sat up in your place, thinking about the events of that night. Not what happened between you and Newt; you didn’t want to think too much about that. You were thinking about what you had dreamed.

In your dream, you were in WICKED’s grasps one again. You dreamed that Brenda and Jorge were WICKED scientists who betrayed you. While you were on an operating table, Minho, Newt, and Aris had burst through the door to save you like the three musketeers, but to your dismay, the three of them were too busy fighting to actually save you. Despite it sounding like a harmless dream, it scared you.

“We’ll head out in ten minutes.” Jorge said, packing his back with the supplies he had dumped on the cave floor; it wasn’t like that when you fell asleep, so you assumed he was sorting his things while you were sleeping.

You rubbed your temple, waking yourself up. Once you were truly conscious, you realized something: Newt wasn’t beside you. You didn’t sleep next to him, but he was always beside you. Maybe it was a good thing he wasn’t around; you didn’t want to have that conversation where Newt would apologize for kissing you and hope that you will act like nothing happened. Looking around, though, he was nowhere to be found. The crevice opening was clear of rocks. Did he go out? Teresa and Aris were gone as well.

“They went to scout.” Minho explained, obviously noticing your confusion. You nodded in acknowledgement, remaining silent. “Not going to grace me with your melodic voice?”

You stared at him for a moment. You weren’t mad at him, you just felt a bit grouchy today. Was it because of that weird dream? It was the first dream you were able to remember in a long time. You just felt down.

“You suck.” you mumbled. Minho laughed, satisfied with your reply. It seems he didn’t notice that you were feeling off today. That was good.

You sat in silence for the rest of those ten minutes. Once they were up, Jorge picked up his bag and lead you out. It was you, Minho, and Frypan. Newt, Aris, and Teresa joined up with you outside of your crevice camp.

“Morning.” Newt said to you, falling in place beside you. If anyone would pick up you were feeling off, it would be Newt and Aris. With them here now, you decided to act like you were the same as you were yesterday.

“Good morning, sweetheart.” you greeted in an over the top, girly voice. Aris brushed it off. Newt looked confused, but ended up chuckling; he probably thought you were joking around with him.

“Where are we headed?” Frypan asked Jorge, messing around with his shirt. Jorge looked back at Frypan before answering.

“Town. Marcus has a place.” he simply said before continuing to be your silent tour guide.

You felt fingers try to hold your hand. Surprised, you jerked your hand away. It was Newt. You were holding his hand day and night before, but now it felt odd. When he noticed your hesitation, he immediately backed off. You knew you just blew your strong act, but you weren’t ready to hold his hand yet.

You didn’t talk for the next couple of hours.

After what seemed like centuries of walking, even though you knew it had maybe only been two hours, you found yourself in a town of sorts. The whole area was in shambles, but there were people around. They weren’t thriving, but with the area being a makeshift bazaar of some kind, they seemed to be managing. The sight was almost saddening, but at the same time, it felt almost familiar. Was this how you lived before the maze?

While you didn’t have any money, you looked at all the wares that people had set out hoping to sell. Jorge told you to keep up, but you were still fascinated. Mostly, there was what looked like food(whether it was edible was questionable), but you saw a stand or two with rusted jewellery and a couple with worn down clothes. Your clothes looked no better by now.

The vendors were something else, though. Like their merchandise, some were worn out and dull; it was as if life had been sucked out of them and they were walking corpses, without decaying of course. Others were bounding with either energy or insanity; it was hard to differentiate. The more crazy vendors that tried to grab at you or Teresa were quickly chased off by a pissed off Minho, a large Frypan, and an overprotective Newt. Aris was too scrawny to look like a threat but he tried. Jorge didn’t react much, signalling that he was used to this sort of behavior.

After the walk and people watching, you were feeling a bit better about yourself. You still felt awkward and didn’t feel like talking too much, but at least you weren’t grouchy and cranky anymore. You wondered what the mood swings were from. You pushed some of your (hair length) hair out of your face as you pondered about it.

“Jorge, we finding Marcus or touring the city?” Minho asked, pulling you away from another crazed merchant. He positioned you in front of him, holding his hands on your shoulders and steering you away from imminent danger.

“See that building, hermano?” Jorge asked, pointing to a building in the distance. It was maybe another half hour away; you could only see the top of the roof. “That’s Marcus’ lair.”

“Seems to be living well if he’s got such a big place.” Frypan mumbled. You had to agree. Considering you could see the roof as far away as you were, as well as didn’t see any gaping holes in it, Marcus was probably living the easy life considering.

As you got closer, there were less merchants and more teenagers. They were almost loitering around. Some were going the same direction as you, but if they were, they seemed disoriented.

While you were paying attention to your surroundings, you’d be blind not to notice Newt in your peripheral vision. For the past few hours, he had been lingering behind you by himself. Now, he was walking beside Teresa. There it was again; that pang in your chest that signalled you were jealous. But were you really jealous? You were conflicted over Newt making moves on you before, so what was up with you now?

Teresa was being quiet. She hadn’t spoken since you were in your little camp. Newt was comforting her; they knew each other longer than you knew him. 

“You okay, (your name)?” Aris asked you, loud enough for you to hear but not anyone else. You shrugged.

“I think so. Maybe I’m getting sick or something.” you rubbed your forehead for the hundredth time today. Aris peered over to you to observe Newt and Teresa. 

“You two have gotten pretty close, huh?”

“Who, me and Newt?”

“Yeah.”

You just shook your head. You didn’t want to answer prematurely. Sure, he seemed like a gallant knight on a white horse, but you had known each other only for a couple of days. He was your friend, at the least.

Aris took this as a sign that you didn’t want to talk about it, not in Newt’s vicinity at least.

The rest of the walk over was silent all around. Minho and Frypan were talking for a bit but whatever conversation they were holding died down quickly. Jorge only spoke if one of you prompted him; he was probably too worried about Brenda. Newt didn’t leave Teresa’s side, almost making you wonder if he was giving so much attention to Teresa because you rejected his hand holding habit earlier. Aris walked beside you but said nothing.

Drowning.

You felt as if you were drowning in your thoughts. The weight of the picture in your pocket weighed heavily in your mind. Why were you so hot and cold with Newt? So upset over his actions and yet desperately wishing he would do something more? You weren’t in love with him. You weren’t his girlfriend. And if he did end up making another move, would you toss him to the side again? You didn’t want to deal with that situation.

But at the same time, you wanted him to touch you. Hold your hand and whisper sweet nothings to you. Assure you WICKED would never find you again, and maybe run off with him, never looking back.

And that’s when you felt someone grab at your wrist. That feeling you were longing for and, at the same time, dreading.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I owe not only an apology but an explanation. I'm sorry about the long delay.
> 
> After my basement flooded(for the second time in one year), my whole family put a lot of time to the restoration which still isn't done. Not only that, but I was finishing up my co-op term and ended up getting a full time job there until the next semester starts. Only this passing Saturday did I finish the auditions for the post secondary schools I want to get into(vocal music and dramatic arts). I also got a virus on my computer a while back that has yet to be taken off of my computer considering both Norton and Avast can't find it after several full system scans...
> 
> The biggest factor of me not wanting to work on this though is I wanted this story to follow the story of the second movie, and then maybe I'd make up something for the ending that would be more similar to the books. I thought, though, that maybe I could just wait until the third movie came out because: the first movie came out in the summer. The second came out in autumn. I assumed the third would come out in the winter. Nope. 2017. I guess my inspiration dwindled down to nothing.
> 
> However I saw some very nice comments left on this for me and thought I'd start it up.  
> Originally, the chapters ranged from six to nine pages long. I'd like to pace this out slower, though(not leave it for months at a time, just maybe one every week or so) with smaller chapters, around four to five pages, so I can at least have a smaller gap until the movie as I won't finish too early.
> 
> This is a Newt fanfiction, but I thought I'd branch it off to have five alternate endings that you can choose from(three for Newt, and one for Minho and Aris). It will leave me with some creativity. Then once the final movie comes out, I'll decide whether I want to make a new ending that follows the movies completely.
> 
> Tell me what you think.
> 
> Anyways, sorry again for the delay, and thank you for reading.


	10. Chapter 10

It wasn’t Newt. It was some guy, maybe a year or two older than you. You tried to shake your hand away but his grip didn’t loosen.

“Let go.” you demanded. He wasn’t a crank, but his eyes weren’t focused. His skin wasn’t decaying, but his smell was rancid. He wasn’t too much a threat, but he still scared you. You kept a stern look, but what was he going to do?

“Hey baby,” he started. His speech was slurred. Was he drinking? You had never had a sip of alcohol, had you? Real alcohol, anyways. In the maze, some of the girls set aside some berries and created a juice that would make you feel buzzed for a while(what you'd define as buzzed anyways), but it wasn't real beer or wine or whatever. “Wanna party with me?”

“No thank you.” you coldly replied. He was implying things you didn't even want to think of. When he pulled your wrist so you'd be forced to move towards you, you took your free hand to try and pry yourself away from him. To no avail.

Then suddenly, you were let go. Were you stronger than you thought? No. It turns out the boy was punched in the face. Who was your white knight? Of course it was Newt. The guy he punched was knocked off of his feet, falling backwards and landing on the ground.

“Holy shit, you just decked that guy.” you exclaimed, Newt shaking his action hand is if he was shaking away any pain.

“Are you alright, (your name)?” Newt asked, then going to your side, checking you over for any possible injuries. You nodded your head furiously.

“Yeah, I'm fine. How's your hand?” you almost yelled, taking his hand in yours. You wouldn't worry about the physical contact at this moment.

“I'm fine, don't worry.” he let you examine his hand. The sleaze bag seemed to have given up on you and moved to his next target; it turns out you and your bodyguard were too much of a hassle for him. It was almost surprising how easily that was let go, but you didn’t want to think about it.

“Stop making a scene and move.” Jorge sternly said. He had stopped momentarily for you all to catch your breath and heads with that exchange, but his impatience wasn’t being hidden from you.

Newt checked you over to make sure you were alright. Maybe he was focusing on Teresa, but that didn’t eliminate you from his mind, or at least his peripheral vision. It felt kinda nice that he was looking out for you. When he was done with his inspection, he continued to follow Jorge. He didn’t return to his spot with Teresa, and instead travelled between her and you, keeping a distance from the both of you.

This is what you wanted, right?

Minho positioned himself beside you, probably looking to talk but he stayed quiet. Aris, meanwhile, had slowed down a bit to be the last in line.

Humour. You wanted to turn on that like you always had, but now didn’t seem like the time, and without it, you felt like you were being crushed. There were always expectations you had to live up to in the Field. Now, all there was was a need for survival and freedom, but that was no way to live. The stress was weighing down on you. Maybe this was why you were so antsy; it’s not like you ever claimed you were a psychology major.

Who were you before the maze? Were you always like this? In the Field, you felt like a completely different person. Out here, though, you were in the dark. Somewhere deep inside of you gnawed memories that were locked away but were desperate to be uncovered. You probably lived in a city like this with rundown buildings and people clinging to life. Maybe who you were before your trauma was just resurfacing.

It was always surprising how fast time flew when you were distracted. You entered an area of pillars, seemingly the entrance of your destination. More teenagers. They were congregating, some people going inside and others sitting around as if they had nothing better to do. The whole thing was unsettling.

Some young woman approached your group. “Are you here for the party?” she asked. What party?

“I’m VIP. Looking for Marcus.” Jorge just pushed past her. That seemed to be a calling card since a man approached you.

“If it isn’t ol’ Jorge. Come back to stir some trouble?” he said. The first thing you noticed about him was his eyes: they were sunken and it almost looked as if he was wearing eyeshadow, or at least you hoped lest it be a medical problem. Considering he spoke right on cue, and judging by the hostile look Jorge was giving him, it was safe to assume this was Marcus. “Funny, it feels like such a long time since we’ve spoken, you really must come in.”

The man reached out to hand Jorge a bottle filled with indistinguishable, green liquid. You weren’t the one it was being offered to, but you could smell it where you stood. It smelled like what you remember the smell of alcohol being.

Jorge put on a smile and grabbed the bottle, but it was immediately clear this was an act. He smashed the bottle on the ground and wiped his face. This was enough of a reply for the man.

“You haven’t changed a bit. Neither has your friend, not that she recognized me.”

That comment tore into you, and it seemed to catch everyone else’s attention too. Could that be Brenda?

“Good thing I slipped her a drink so she’ll at least be pleasant for a little while.” Marcus laughed maniacally. Jorge’s fist meeting Marcus’ jaw didn’t keep him laughing for much longer. The wet sound made you feel sick. The teenagers outside of your group seem almost unfazed by the situation unfolding in front of them.

“Where is she?” Jorge asked, but it was more a demand. Marcus eyed Jorge over.

“Why don’t you try and find them?”

No one could wait any longer. Teresa heard, ‘them,’ and she bolted inside to find a sign they were alive. Brenda and Thomas. If Marcus wasn’t lying, they were alive. That thought resonated in your head, relief starting to wash over you.

Marcus followed Teresa inside, but at a much slower pace. He was playing all of you, and you knew it. If they were alive and inside, he knew exactly where they were, but he was letting you all squirm. Jorge shoved Marcus to go faster.

And there she was in the middle of a crowd. It was Brenda, safe and sound. She seemed almost sleepy, but she was fine. Jorge checked her over profusely, letting Marcus slip from his attention.

By the time you realized Marcus wasn’t being watched by Jorge, though, he was lost in the crowd. There were just so many people, such loud music, a lot of smoke, and the rancid smell of alcohol and iron. You had nothing to drink, but the atmosphere was making your head spin. Your focus was fading and you were getting lost in this new experience.

You were shocked, ‘awake,’ by someone shaking your shoulder. Newt. “Eyes on me.” he simply said. You refocused. Never better.

Find Thomas and get Marcus back. That was the plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally got to see Death Cure. I really enjoyed it, although I do think it dragged a bit too long.
> 
> Anyways, I ended up writing a future chapter, aka the start of Death Cure, so I guess I need to catch back up. This part of the movie is a gray area, so I didn't really have much to write about. The big thing I always took into consideration with the reader insert here is that the reader can't affect the story too much, everything has to fall in line eventually... so I feel with moments like this(since the films and books are centered around Thomas), there's only so much I can do. I can't have them all going on a marvelous trip to nowhere, especially since the film makes the trip from the sewers to Marcus' building seem like at most a few hours.
> 
> In my last update which was pretty much a year ago, I said I wanted to diverge the story into a few paths. I didn't really know how I was going to work that out, and now seeing Death Cure, I'm really not sure about that anymore so I'll have to get up to chapter thirteen(approximately) and then decide. This was supposed to just be Newt in the beginning, so that's probably where I'll keep it.
> 
> Thank you to the people urging me to continue this. A lot of stuff happened and I ended up forgetting about this, but AO3 emails kept it on my radar recently.
> 
> I did go back and proofread my older, "chapters." I tried editing the mistakes, but AO3 just stopped responding every time I tried to save, so I'll give it a day or two and try again.
> 
> Thanks again!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading.
> 
> This is my first AO3 work, and I was really excited to post it.  
> I wrote it on my iPad, so there might be some mistakes. I tried to find every one, and I might have, but I'm not convinced...  
> If there is a Mr. Hanson, Mr. Kanson, or Mr. Blanston, know that my iPad hated the name Mr. Janson.  
> //fallsonface  
> U-um, I'm Canadian, though, so expect colours, favourites, and whatnot.
> 
> Th-this work will definitely be movieverse based over bookverse. I'm using some facts from the books, and will definitely be using the book to end this fiction(because I don't think I can wait until the third movie comes out to finish this), but everything will come from the movies... Except for WCKD instead of WICKED.
> 
> Anyways, again, thank you for reading.


End file.
